The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Delegation in Belize held its accountability seminar on May 30, 2018 at the at the Administrative and Technical Services Conference Room at the National Agriculture and Trade Showgrounds, in Belmopan, Belize. This annual event provided an opportunity for the IICA office to reflect on the progress made over the past year. The Accountability Seminar was attended by 36 representatives including stakeholders from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, Environment, Sustainable Development, development partners, private and civil society stakeholders, two primary schools and other participants with whom IICA works in close collaboration for the development of the agriculture sector in Belize
IICA’s Technical Coordinator gave a presentation of the significant accomplishments for the year 2017. Some of these were:
- Succesful negotiation of a project, for the productivity enhancement of banana farms through integrated soil fertility management in the banana belt Area of Belize, with the European Union, the Banana Growers Association and the University of Belize. The total value of this project is Euro 2,302,023 the overall objective is to foster social and economic development leading to the reduction of poverty, focusing on workers, their families and communities in the banana belt area of Belize. The specific objective is to increase the efficiency of banana production. Project implementation commenced on December 1, 2017 and will be implemneted over an 18 month period.
- Systematizing experiencing in good agricultural practices for integrated family agriculture, in three indigenous communities in southern Belize’s Toledo District.
- Strengthening the Belize National Extension Service by providing technical support to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Immigration (MAFFESDI) in identifying the most important information needed by farmers and the extension service and developing a strategy for the exchanging information between the farmer and the Ministry of agriculture.
- The Delegation established and hosted the first roundtable for international development partners interested in aligning efforts and exploring opportunities for collaboration on government prioritorized joint initiatives to strengthen the agriculture sector in the country. A total of 16 agencies are members of this roundtable including the British High Commission, the Brazilian Embassy, the Chilean Embassy, the Embassy of Mexico, the Embassy of Peru, the Embassy of Taiwan ROC, CARDI, FAO, EU, IDB, INCAP-PAHO/WHO, OIRSA and UNDP.
These are some among others of the accomplishments the Delegation achieved for 2017. An overview of the Technical Cooperation Agenda for 2018 was also presented during the accountability seminar.
Special remarks were given by the Chief Agricultural Officer Mr. Andrew Harrison on behalf of the MAFFESD, highlighting the imortance of having IICA as a strategic Partner for the Development of the agriculture sector in Belize.
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