June 24, 2022: The Government of Belize through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise is now poised to transform its food systems using an evidence-based and extensive assessment completed earlier this year.

The Belize Food Systems Profile: Catalysing the Sustainable and Inclusive Transformation of Food Systems, was the document formally handed over to the Government of Belize on Wednesday 22nd of June, during a ceremony at the Yo Creek Agriculture Station.

Honorable Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise was handed the document by Representative for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for Belize, Dr Crispim Moreira during his weeklong visit to the country.

Minister Mai remarked that the food systems assessment was very revealing, especially on the fact that Belize imports 40% of its food. He highlighted that while the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the country, the agriculture sector rebounded with a 24% increase in production that contributed to marked improvements in GDP in one year. Despite this, the food systems profile shows that there is still much more to be done. He concluded that the food system cuts across different ministries and departments and everybody has to play their role. The revealing information from the assessment sets the pace for us to focus on what we need to do over the coming years.

The Food Systems Profile is to be used to advance national dialogue on food systems and feed into policies, plans and programmes to enable more resilient and sustainable food systems development in Belize.

FAO Representative, Dr Crispim Moreira remarked during the handover ceremony that, Belize was one of 50 countries of the world that had completed the Food Systems Assessment and that it could be used to increase investment to transform the country’s food systems. He added that many of the challenges faced with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals were linked to the food system and that Belize could become an example of how by transforming the country’s food systems it could positively impact other areas of life.

The Food Systems Profile is the result of months of extensive research, interviews and consultations with various stakeholders across sectors in Belize. It was funded through a

partnership with the European Union (EU), the Food and Agriculture Organization o