In other news, the Ministry of Economic Development today signed an MOU with the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation for the next component of its Resilient Rural Belize Program.
This program aims to introduce climate resilient agricultural practices so that small farmers can continue to operate using sustainable production processes despite the stress of extreme climatic events. This MOU, in turn, is to improve BMDC's Agricultural Market Price Information System, Agrilink, and its role in providing wholesale and retail market price information.
Today at the signing ceremony, the CEO's in the Ministries of Economic Development and Agriculture spoke about the importance of marketing in Belize's agriculture.
Dr. Osmond Martinez, CEO, Ministry of Economic Development
"We are starting to move this project further which is very important, not only for the Government of Belize but for every single Belizean in our country. It shows that the program is well designed. Today we are now dealing with, to me, one of the most important components which is marketing. There is no doubt that the Belizean farmers and producers have the capacity to produce and more importantly they have been able to make the necessary adjustments to produce under the current climate change situations that we have in Belize. Our farmers, with limit resources, and limited information have been able to adapt and create their own adaptation plans in order to produce. Marketing nonetheless, should be one of the key elements, not only to help them to get better prices, but it should be considered as a pro-por development program where their products will be paid at a reasonable or i should say at a price that is fair for the farmers."
Servulo Baeza, CEO, Ministry of Agriculture
"Marketing is a very important component in terms of the value chain. I can tell everybody that we have very good farmers, we have very good producers. We can produce very good quality vegetables and fruits in this country. Our farmers have improved over the years and have shown that they are capable to produce good quality products. A few years ago, I think some of the older folks that are around this table might be able to tell you, they will be able to say you cannot grow onions, you can't grow potato here in Belize and our farmers are doing that here right now. You couldn't grow carrots, and a lot of these vegetables weren't able to be produced in the country, we used to have to import them. Right now the seasonal crops are being produced by our farmers and we are looking at being able to extend the period of time in which we are able to produce locally so to have the domestic market supplied by local produce. That is why we are investing in cold storage being able to post harvest management and cold storage so that we can have a longer period of time to have local products in the market."
