In the southeastern Honduran department of La Paz, a project for the reuse of wastewater for irrigation of food crops will be implemented as part of a plan to promote more environmentally friendly practices. Wastewater that has gone through the proper treatment processes can be safely used again for irrigation.

The initiative undertaken by the local government of La Paz, the capital of the department of the same name, is being backed by the National Human Rights Commission and the Polytechnic University of Honduras, a private institution.

The area’s high potential for agricultural production led to the decision to promote this “pilot project, through which we hope to produce food for the thousands of indigenous families who make up the majority of the region’s population,” Filiberto Isaula, the mayor of La Paz, told Tierramérica.

The department of La Paz, with a population of just under 100,000, is one of the poorest in Honduras. In 2010, 60 percent of the department’s crops were lost as a result of a severe drought followed by unusually heavy rains.