by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Jan. 16, 2025

Five Caribbean countries including Belize will be a part of the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) plan to turn the sargassum seaweed crisis that has been plaguing the country, into a source of profit under its Sargassum Innovation Quest to Build Resilient Coastal Ecosystems.

Barbados, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, and Trinidad & Tobago were selected for the proposal with IDB Invest, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

This initiative was used to identify and support solutions that leverage advanced technologies and innovative practices to harness the potential of sargassum biomass and enhance the resilience of coastal communities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In addition, this initiative combats the increasing influx of sargassum that negatively affected the region’s tourism, fishing, and coastal ecosystems since 2011.

Belize will be eligible for funding supported by Caribbean Chemicals which focuses on developing safe products for food and ornamental crops by leveraging technologies that significantly reduce arsenic and heavy metal levels in sargassum biomass.

Also, Belize will partake with the Waste Recycling Environment Network by implementing the Static Pile Inoculated Compost Extension (SPICE) composting process in coastal communities of Belize, and to sustainably manage solid waste, including sargassum, and produce high-quality compost and liquid fertilizers.

IDB was founded in 1959 and has worked within the region’s public sector to design and enable innovative solutions for sustainable and inclusive development.