Agriculture plays an important role in Belize’s economy, contributing almost 13% to GDP, and employing about 10% of the population at the end of 2015.

On August 30th and 31st, over 35 participants from eight different private sector business entities took part in a two-day work shop held at the George price Centre in Belmopan.  The training included an in-depth training on the principles and practice of traceability funded by the 10th European Development Fund “Support to the Forum of Caribbean States in the implementation of the commitments undertaken under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures” being executed by IICA.

On July 21st, July, IICA through the regional APP project, concluded a 6 weeks training in an effort to build the technical know-how on bee keeping of the of the Cayo Quality Honey Producers Cooperative (CQHPC). This training was part of a pilot initiative seeking to contribute to the development of the honey-value chain in Belize by improving the entrepreneurial, marketing, and organizational capacities of targeted organization, in this case the CQHPC.

The IICA Belize delegation carries out a four day training in an effort to o institutionalize the FFS methodology as a strategic tool to make the national extension service more efficient and effective. Five key institutions participated in the vent.

A total of 33 food safety professionals from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were certified by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA). The training was organized by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

IICA and the European Union are supporting a project that seeks to establish an antimicrobial resistance surveillance system in the Caribbean region.