BELMOPAN, Fri. Apr. 30, 2021– On April 29 and 30, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise hosted a two-day annual virtual meeting to present accomplishments of the ministry and work plans that will guide the ministry over the course of the year. The official ceremony was held at the National Agriculture and Trade Showgrounds conference room, but many key stakeholders in the ministry attended via Zoom or Facebook Live.

This event served as the first Annual General Meeting in the ministry, and was used as a forum for agricultural planning, promotion of local subsistence agriculture, and plans for the marketization and digitization of agriculture in Belize.

During the opening ceremony, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai, emphasized the importance of agriculture to Belize’s economic wellbeing and stressed the importance of collaborating with all directorates and partners to achieve all the goals indicated in Plan Belize. The work plans that were presented underscored the vision of the various departments and partner agencies of the ministry. Through the development of these work plans, the ministry devised a collaborative plan to extend its reach and improve Belize’s agriculture. These collaborative efforts will also make it possible to offer specialized support to farmers across Belize.

While agriculture plays a vital role in income-generation in Belize, the Inter-American Development Bank has reported that Belize spends approximately US$106 million on imported food The ministry has prioritized local production in an effort to minimize the country’s imports, and reduce expenditures.

The Ministry has since taken great strides toward this goal. Over the past few months, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise has been very active in its plan to achieve agricultural excellence and food security and has overseen efforts to rejuvenate farming in the Toledo District. It has also carried out field trips to local farmers to assess the needs and demands of each area/ farm, and has introduced biological methods of pest control to increase agricultural yield and minimize the effects of chemical pesticides.

Additionally, those in attendance at the meeting addressed the need for better marketization of locally grown products as a means to implement Belize’s farm-to-table policy. To this end, the ministry and its supporting agencies are supporting the “Buy Local” campaign through social media ads and by allowing local farmers access to the market. The ministry was pleased to announce that it has already taken steps to further digitize market access. It has developed its own commerce site for farmers to sell produce through the agrilinks.bz platform.