The covid-19 pandemic and two hurricanes devastated the economy of the north coast of honduras, exacerbating the root causes of irregular migration

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) awarded $189,000 under the IAF Assistance for Overseas Programs federal grant program (CFDA #85.750) to Empresa De Servicios Multiples Artesanos Y Guias De El Pino (ESMAG-El Pino) on August 6, 2021. ESMAG-El Pino will expand its tourism offerings in Honduras through new agritourism initiatives and support a women's entrepreneurship collective. As the leading tourism organization along Honduras' North Coast, ESMAG-El Pino will cultivate children and youth's abilities in arts and nature to strengthen the region's tourism sector, which was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and hurricanes. This project aims to address root causes of irregular migration by expanding economic opportunities for vulnerable communities in Honduras.

The tourism sector was particularly hard HIT. With no income, families could not meet basic food security needs. The IAF supports community-led approaches to creating alternatives to irregular migration by expanding economic opportunity through enterprise development, ensuring food security, building social ties, and helping communities recover from crises. Our grantee empresa DE servicios múltiples artesanos y guías DE EL pino (esmag-EL pino) is a leader in tourism development along the north coast of honduras. Its ethics and values program is cultivating children and youth's abilities in the arts and in understanding and communicating about nature. Esmag-EL pino will expand its tourism offerings by adding agritourism as a new market niche. IT will also support a collective of women entrepreneurs to strengthen their businesses. This grant is part of the IAF's efforts to address the root causes of irregular migration in central america. This grant is also part of the IAF's broader ETA/iota response strategy and the IAF's women investing in growth and security (wings) initiative to empower women as business and community leaders.