21st June 2021: The Ministry of Agriculture Food Security & Enterprise in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) signed today a grant agreements with beneficiaries of the Agri Business Technical incubator grants program.

The Agri Business Technical incubator is a pilot project under Technical Cooperation Program (TCP3801) currently being implemented by the FAO in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture Food Security & Enterprise in the Cayo District, Belize.

Total investment awarded was determined by the evaluation committee based on the proposed strategy to address the key weakness. Investments between 5,000 to 15,000 BZD were considered for the award. A total of eight enterprises were supported with funding of a total budget of $59,859.83.

The incubator provides new, micro and small Agriculture based enterprises with Qualification, Training, Advisory and Consulting services to enable them to formalize and accelerate their business development process. Capacity building activities have been taking place through a virtual mechanism to deliver key technical content in 5 key areas of enterprise development.

In addition, mentorship and coaching services are available to each incubated enterprise through an assigned mentor. The Program seeks to provide investments in the form of assets to enable the enterprises to scale up and enhance their business operations. This phase involves financing proposed investments of enterprises that are undergoing the incubation process.