Honduras is in a difficult situation right now when it comes to food security and availability. With a population of around 8 million people, the country's government has difficulty combating and solving the problem of poverty and undernourished citizens. Nearly two-thirds of Honduras's population lives below the national poverty level, and much does not even own land. A new government took over in 2010 and is slowly making progress, but Honduras is still considered highly vulnerable to food shortages. According to some sources, about a quarter of the population of Honduras is undernourished; this is more than double the percentage calculated a few years ago in 2006. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There are several factors that can be attributed to the decline in food security in Honduras, whether due in part to uncontrollable natural causes or because of Honduran citizens themselves. One of the biggest problems Hondurans face is the large number of natural disasters that tend to occur almost every year. In fact, Honduras is almost always included in the list of the top ten countries vulnerable to natural disasters. Hurricanes are widespread and can have devastating effects on local communities and food systems in Honduras. Hurricane Mitch inflicted severe damage on Honduras in 1998 and caused serious problems in terms of water circulation; the southern part of Honduras receives little or no water cycles and is continually affected by drought and dry land. Other hurricanes have contributed to this problem, in 1997, 2001, 2007 and 2009. Furthermore, Hondurans lack robust emergency response plans, which has made the consequences of these natural disasters even more harmful than necessary. After these hurricanes occurred, the Honduran government must be able to provide its citizens with water and nutritious food, which it has failed to do. Another thing that greatly contributes to the lack of adequate food availability and distribution in Honduras is the large number of inefficient agricultural systems established in the country. Over 16% of Honduran territory is agriculturally useful and has the potential to support and maintain beneficial agricultural systems. The only problem is that much of this arable land has not been exploited and used simply because it does not meet the criteria of Honduras' current agricultural system. This agricultural system opts for large plots of crops, a commercial orientation given to these crops, and are placed only in humid and rainy areas. Because of this, many crops do not even survive, which causes low yields and deterioration in quality. Much of the land in the country is owned by large industrial landowners, who grow crops primarily for export and not for local consumption. Small farmers receive very little help and recognition, despite providing much of the food Hondurans actually consume. They face various problems, such as poor or no state of infrastructure, poor quality and availability of agricultural inputs, as well as poor capacity and credit. Public agricultural systems no longer exist and now only large landowners can afford to pay for extension services. One of the problems small farmers face is being priced out of the market by competition from US imports. This makes it extremely difficult for these farmers to profit from their investments and be subject to.