The school feeding programmes in the Caribbean, as elsewhere, have long been established and recognized as an important instrument in facilitating learning, especially for poor and vulnerable school children.

The Government of Belize under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise along with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology embraced the Belize Healthy Start School Feeding Initiative stipulated in #plan Belize manifesto – a promise that the government made to the Belizean people.

Under the technical cooperation with FAO, this bilateral program contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)., in particular to SDGs No. 1, 2, 3, and 4; Respectively being, NO POVERTY, ZERO HUNGER, GOOD HEALTH & WELL BEING AND QUALITY EDUCATION.

With the aid from the Mexican Government, through the Mexican International Development Cooperation Agency (AMEXCID), and with technical support from the FAO, the project seeks to strengthen institutional plans for achieving food and nutrition security and providing support for individual smallholder farmers and or family farming.

The Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed a methodology to provide both technical and financial assistance to countries interested in improving their National School Feeding Programs.

Each of the beneficiary schools has received a covered structure with raised beds and seedlings of different varieties. Planting is also in progress. The schools will also be receiving trainings on how to manage their gardens. The trainings are also coming up for small farmers and cooperatives, with the goal of connecting these farmers to school feeding programs, so that the produce can be sold directly to schools.

The school feeding menu consists of a majority of locally grown items. School cooks and administrations have been provided with menu planning tools, allowing them to predict their need for products and be able to order from producers.

Finally, the project aims to connect local cooperatives and farmers directly with schools, establishing a mutual beneficial relationship.

Present at the event was Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Education, Minister of National Security, Chief of Mission-Mexico, FAO Representatives and other invited Guests.