Minister of Agriculture Receives courtesy Visit from OIRSA Executive Director

Minister of Agriculture Receives courtesy Visit from OIRSA Executive Director
June 25th, 2021
Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, received a courtesy visit from Mr. Efrain Medina Guerra, executive director of OIRSA, to discuss technical cooperation between both entities.
Key issues discussed were regional projects implemented in Belize, local projects financed by OIRSA, and a project proposal submitted to the ministry for approval. Also discussed was the giant African snail that was recently detected in Costa Rica, raising alarm for other member countries. The presence of this pest triggered a declaration of a regional emergency to control and prevent its spread.
OIRSA has assigned financial resources to train a technician from the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) in entomology to assist with the diagnostic capacity of plant health. Additionally, OIRSA provided financial assistance to cover the costs of gathering and submitting documentation for review to the International Organization for Animal Health to declare Belize free of classical swine fever (hog cholera).
Also present for the meeting were Mr. Fermin Blanco, country representative for OIRSA in Belize; Mr. Francisco Gutierrez, director of BAHA; Mr. Marco Castro, financial controller of OIRSA; Mr. Abelardo de Gracia, regional animal health director; and Mr. Raul Rodas, regional director for quarantine services.

Minister of Agriculture Meets with Ambassador of Japan

Minister of Agriculture Meets with Ambassador of Japan
Belmopan. June 24, 2021.
Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, yesterday met with H.E. Kazuhiro Iryu, Ambassador of Japan to Belize, and Mrs. Michiyo Hashiguchi, JICA Representative in Belize, in Belmopan to discuss technical collaboration between both countries.
The key issue discussed was financial assistance for the establishment of cold storage facilities in the northern, western and central areas of Belize where onions and potatoes are produced. Another area of interest at the meeting was the improvement of livestock breeds and capacity building for technical officers at the Ministry of Agriculture. After the meeting concluded, the delegation travelled to Barton Creek in the Cayo District to visit cold storage facilities used by farmers to extend shelf life and availability of produce for the domestic market.
Minister Mai was accompanied by Mr. Servulo Baeza, CEO in the ministry, and senior technical officers.

Minister of Agriculture Attends Session on Bovine Embryonic Transplantation

Minister of Agriculture Attends Session on Bovine Embryonic Transplantation
Belmopan. June 21, 2021.
Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, along with livestock officers from the ministry, attended a session on bovine embryonic transplantation using in vitro fertilization at the Princess Hotel, Corozal Free Zone.
The session was led by Mexican experts Dr. Juan Carlos Barros, Mr. Tobias Vasquez Casalez, Mr. Carlos Ortiz Manzo, and Mr. Eli Eric Rodriguez Arevalo. The presentations covered all aspects of embryo transfer protocol and techniques.
In an effort to improve the quality of livestock in Belize and increase the quality of live beef and meat exports, the Ministry of Agriculture is exploring the use of selected cattle for genetic livestock improvement at the Central Farm Station through artificial insemination and embryo transfer.
Accompanying Minister Mai were personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture, Belize Livestock Producers’ Association, Belize Agricultural Health Authority, and personnel from private livestock breeding facilities in Shipyard, Blue Creek and Spanish Lookout.

Ministry of Agriculture Holds Meeting with Grains Stakeholders

Ministry of Agriculture Holds Meeting with Grains Stakeholders
Belmopan. June 9, 2021.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, in conjunction with the Directorate General for Foreign Trade (DGFT), the Customs Department, and the Belize Agriculture Health Authority (BAHA), held a national grains stakeholder meeting at the National Agriculture Showgrounds with contact farmers from the Cayo, Orange Walk, and Corozal districts.
The meeting focused on the expansion of the Belize-Guatemala Partial Scope Agreement and challenges encountered in its implementation. Stakeholders recommended that the Government of Belize urgently address issues with financial payments, the logistical challenges at the border with Guatemala, and negotiate the facilitation of trade for commodities that Belize has an immediate interest in exporting such as corn, cattle, and other livestock.
This stakeholder meeting is the first of several meetings to be held in relation to the expansion of Belizean products into Guatemala.
Present at the meeting were Servulo Baeza, CEO in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, and officials from the ministry, DGFT, BAHA, and the Customs Department.

Ministry of Agriculture Meets with Special Envoy

Ministry of Agriculture Meets with Special Envoy
Belmopan. June 8, 2021.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise met with H.E. Rossana Briceño, Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children, at the Laing Building in Belize City.
The discussion focused on collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Office of the Special Envoy, especially for school feeding programs and school gardens. An overview of how school gardens can be used as a pedagogical tool in schools through partnerships with the National Food and Nutrition Security Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health & Wellness, and the Office of the Special Envoy was presented.
H.E. Briceño discussed the purpose of the Office of the Special Envoy and highlighted the main goal of empowering the most vulnerable families and children to fully contribute and to successfully participate in achieving Belize’s development goals. Target beneficiaries are persons and children living with disabilities, the elderly, and vulnerable families. Strategic priorities include strengthening engagement to support the most vulnerable, increasing citizen participation and ownership, and promoting effective and accountable governance.
The mission of the Office of the Special Envoy aligns with the program areas of the National Food and Nutrition Security Commission and with the overall goals of Plan Belize.
Representing the Ministry of Agriculture were Mr. Servulo Baeza, CEO in the ministry; Mr. Luis Pook, director of communications; Mr. Clifford Martinez, director of extension; Mr. Gary Ramirez, national horticulture coordinator; and Mr. Emilio Montero, coordinator for the National Food and Nutrition Security Commission.

Launched of the Systematization Report

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise and the Mexican Embassy
through AMEXCID formally launched
“A SYTEMATIZATION REPORT OF THE MESOAMERICA HUNGER FREE
SCHOOL FEEDING PROJECT IN THE TOLEDO DISTRICT”
BASED ON THE PROJECT TITLED:
“Improve Food and Nutrition Security and Encourage Healthy Eating Habits in Belize
through Strengthening of the School Feeding Programs” (GCP/SLM/001/MEX)
OFFICIAL RESIDENCE, EMBASSY OF MEXICO IN BELIZE
CITY OF BELMOPAN

Thursday JUNE 3RD, 2021

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise in collaboration of the Government of
Mexico through the Mexican International Development Cooperation Agency (AMEXCID) today
handed over a systematization report of the Mesoamerica Hunger Free School Feeding Program
Project implemented in the Toledo District.

Since 2015, Mesoamerican countries, including one from the Caribbean, embarked on the
Mesoamerica Without Hunger Initiative. The initiative is a program of cooperation between
countries in the South-South region that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. With
aid from the Government of Mexico through AMEXCID and with technical support from the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Additionally, it seeks to strengthen institutional frameworks
for achieving Food and Nutrition Security and individualized attention to family farming.
Through this initiative, Belize’s pilot project developed the Sustainable School Feeding Program
(SFP) in four communities in the Toledo District.

Belize is determined to strengthen its governance mechanisms for designing, implementing and
monitoring its programs and public policies for food and nutrition security. In this regard, SFPs
based on the experience of Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the cornerstone strategies
that can be adopted to achieve social justice with instruments that contribute to different
dimensions of development and the realization of rights.

Present at the event were Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture; Hon. Francis Fonseca,
Minister of Education; Hon. Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs; H.E Martha Zamarripa, Ambassador of Mexico in Belize; Dr. Israel Rios, FAO Regional
Representative.

U.S. Embassy Delivers Funds to BAHA for Fruit Fly Eradication Program

U.S. Embassy Delivers Funds to BAHA for Fruit Fly Eradication Program

Belmopan – U.S. Embassy Belmopan Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, Keith Gilges, represented the U.S. government in today’s handover of funds provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA). The donation of $280,000 BZD will be used to pay for equipment, supplies, and wages as part of an ongoing program to eradicate one of the world’s most destructive pests, the Mediterranean fruit fly, from Belize. CEO in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise Servulo Baeza received the funds on behalf of BAHA and the Government of Belize.

Belize’s citrus industry was valued at approximately $20 million BZD in 2020. If the medfly were to become established in Belize, BAHA estimates losses of approximately 15 percent, or $7 million BZD. The medfly has typically been introduced into Belize through contaminated fruits carried illegally across borders.

Chargé d’Affaires Gilges emphasized, “The medfly program is one of the oldest and longest-running cooperative United States-Belize programs and it has proven itself highly effective. The joint USDA-BAHA program – which incorporates surveillance, interdiction, quarantine, and elimination efforts – protects the sustainability and profitability of one of Belize’s primary agricultural exports. These efforts play a critical role in defending Belize’s environment and economy.”

This program began in 1977, when the USDA and Belize’s Ministry of Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding to implement a Mediterranean fruit fly surveillance program in Belize. The program had been active for ten years before the first fruit fly was detected in 1987 in Southern Belize. Since 1987, while the fruit fly has been introduced hundreds of times, each incursion has been met with swift and effective eradication efforts including aerial spraying, quarantine check points, and manual inspections of vulnerable areas. To date, there are no established, self-sustaining fruit fly populations in Belize.

Sheep Management Training for Toledo Farmers

Sheep Management Training for Toledo Farmers
The Sheep Project Phase II under Taiwan Technical Mission, in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, conducted a general sheep management training at the Toledo Agriculture Station on May 20, 2021.
Thirty-one farmers attended the training, which focused on the proper methods of sheep nutrition and feeding, sheep reproduction and breeding, and the diseases and parasites affecting sheep. The trainers at the workshop were Sheep Project Phase II and sheep focal point experts from Central Farm and the agriculture technicians from the Toledo Agriculture Station.
Mr. Wang Der-Lon, the Sheep Project manager, attended the workshop on behalf of Taiwan Technical Mission in Belize. Extension officers from the Toledo District were also present representing the farmers they serve. Mr. Clifford Martinez, director of extension service in the ministry, gave certificates to the farmers who participated.
The Sheep Project Phase II will continue to facilitate the production of quality breeding stock from the National Sheep and Goat Breeding Center (NSGBC) at Central Farm to supply farmers countrywide with quality sheep and goat breeds at affordable prices. Other important goals under the project for 2021 include expanding the NSGBC by constructing a new 60’x135’ barn and importing some 30 Boer meat type and Nubian milk type goats to increase the production capacity of and maintain steady breeding stock. The project will also continue to facilitate technical training workshops, field days, and hands-on practice throughout the country to further improve the knowledge and skills of farmers in sheep and goat production.

Minister of Agriculture Concludes Countrywide Familiarization Tour

Minister of Agriculture Concludes Countrywide Familiarization Tour

On Friday, May 21, Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, concluded his national tour of the agriculture sector in the Corozal District.

The tour commenced with a visit to the Quality Shrimp Belize Facility in Estrella, just south of Libertad Village. Minister Mai was taken on a tour of the state-of-the-art facility which produces fresh gourmet-grade shrimp in a reliable and economical indoor, water recycling facility.

The tour then proceeded to Concepcion, where the minister met with members of the Concepcion Farmers Group. The group owns a vegetable farm which produces onions, carrots, tomatoes, cabbages, hot peppers, and watermelons. The farmers also expressed plans to establish a cooperative. Thereafter, the delegation traveled to San Joaquin to visit the Lopez Martinez Dairy Farm. The family-owned dairy farm provides products such as eggs, cheese and milk to local buyers.

The final leg of the tour was a visit to an apiary in Sarteneja. The apiary is owned by the Sarteneja Beekeepers Cooperative, which produces and sells honey under the name, “Pura Miel”. In addition to honey, the beekeepers are venturing into the production of wine. The group also discussed the impact of the small hive beetle on honey production.

Minister Mai was joined by Mr. Servulo Baeza, CEO in the ministry; Mr. Florencio Marin, Sr., former area representative for Corozal South East; Mr. David Castillo, Jr., standard bearer for Corozal North; as well as technical staff from the ministry and partners in development.

 

Ministry of Agriculture Meets with Producers in Spanish Lookout

Ministry of Agriculture Meets with Producers in Spanish Lookout
Belmopan. May 18, 2021. 4:45 p.m.
Servulo Baeza, CEO in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, today met with members of the Belize Dairy Association in Spanish Lookout, Cayo.
Discussions included the objectives of the association, challenges faced in the dairy industry, and possible collaboration between private enterprise and the ministry. CEO Baeza expressed the government’s commitment to farmers and producers as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise aims to fulfill the Plan Belize target of increasing local production.
CEO Baeza and his team visited the Western Dairies production facilities where plans are underway to introduce ultrahigh temperature processing for milk. Company officials explained the investment involved and the constraints faced by the company with packaging and marketing new products for the local market.
Meetings will continue with producers across the country to ensure all industries are liaising with the ministry on all matters of interest between private and public partners.
Accompanying CEO Baeza were members of the technical team from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise.