When you think of Belizean exports, agricultural mainstays like sugar, citrus and banana, maybe even papaya come most readily to mind. But someday soon, the little recognized cacao bean may challenge those traditional cash crops. Cacao is the stuff that chocolate is made from and it thrives in Belize's warm temperatures. Over the past 10 years Belize has been able to secure a niche market for the much sought after bean where all the organic cacao produced in this country is purchased by a British company called green and black's. The program has been working out well and in fact better than expected because the cacao industry in the Toledo district is expanding. But all that was placed in jeopardy when monilia a fungal infection that affects the cacao bean appeared in Belize. This weekend we found out how the fight against monilia is coming along.
Alfonso Noble Reporting, [From Toledo]
Young and old residents from the Maya Mopan village in Toledo collected some of the final cocoa beans harvested this year and they were particularly happy. That’s because a couple of months ago this disease: monilia made its way, for the first time, to Belize. It was a scare because the disease has great devastation potential.
Gregor Haltgrove, Maya Gold Project Manager
“Potential devastation is complete. There was 90% in Costa Rica, 80% in Honduras, and almost 100% in Panama. In Belize we lost a total of about 300 pounds and we had it stopped which is less than 1%.”
That was possible because of immediate response to the fungus that completely infects and destroys the entire cocoa pod, including the valuable seeds. Justino Peck, the Chairman of the Toledo Cacao Growers Association says that the response was immediate.
Justino Peck, Chairman Toledo Cacao Grower’s Association
“We immediately acted upon finding out yes we had an outbreak of the disease within one of our producing areas which is Maya Mopan. And so therefore through our General Manager we had negotiations with Ministry of Agriculture, BAHA, and OIRSA/IICA to see how best things could be worked out so we could prevent the spread of the disease.”
Gregor Haltgrove,
“We didn’t know how many orchards were infected so we immediately began a survey in corporation with BAHA and inspected 50 farms within a week and found we only had it on three farms. Well really it could be called one farm because it was three farms adjacent to each others here in Maya Mopan.”
Justino Peck,
“We’re using what we call preventative method of control which is taking down all the infected part and burying it within the same locality. And as it is right now I think we are so much more in control of it right now. We are happy that we noted the effect of the disease at an early stage because this is a growing industry and if we had not caught it at an early stage then probably it would have been something very dangerous to the expansion of the industry. But as it is right now we found it at an early stage, we caught it at an early stage, and we are trying to prevent it where it can still be prevented. This we are satisfied with what has happening with the team effort.”
And that team effort was particularly important for the containment of monilia here in Toledo because these beans are very important to the local economy. Selling for over $1.68 a pound for the cacao beans, the industry impacts as many as 650 producers directly. This year alone production is up to 65,000 pounds that is directly purchased by Green and Black’s under fairtrade. For Haltgrove, Green and Black’s Representative in Belize, the production of cacao here is extremely important.
Gregor Haltgrove,
“At Green and Black our highest flavor beans come from Belize. We have a brand that we market worldwide and we need the Belize production. We are confident that we have stopped it and we really feel that in the next 12 months we are going to say that we have eradicated monilia. If we do, Belize will be the only country that ever has. So the market for the beans is secure. There is no danger of infestation in the soil and it doesn’t affect the tree or the leaf, it only affects the beans. So while it is highly contagious, we think we’ve got that under control too.”
“This is about two months after we’ve first identified the disease and you see us buying cacao. We bought cacao a couple weeks ago from a farm that was infected but the beans are now healthy and we are buying again next week. So we are confident that the beans are fully marketable and the market is safe.”
Eugene Waight, Chief Agriculture Officer
“The Ministry is very satisfied along with the producers that the timing was right, right on time. And now we have a task force in place with the stakeholders in place, IICA, Green and Black, the Ministry, BAHA, and we will continue to monitor the disease and ensure that we continue to control and make sure that the quarantine regulations are in place and adhere to. And until after complete eradication we might let up but we still have our eyes looking out and monitoring.”
And that monitoring will ensure that come next year the cacao in these chocolate bars being held by Belizean children will come from the fields of Toledo.
Presently the monilia disease is under control with strict quarantine measures and stripping of infected pods. And if all goes well, cacao production is estimated to leap from 65,000 pounds this year to a million pounds within the next five years.
Fore on Cacao and Green & Black Check out their Website