Agriculture - Channel 5 Belize

Is the African Palm Oil an Industry for Belize?

It is the largest oil-producing plant in the world and earlier this year, Belize experimented with the idea of growing the nut that makes African Palm Oil as an alternative to naturally-produced cooking oils. Experts in the agriculture industry believed the African Palm Oil had great potential for Belize, and at a summit held late last year, Guatemalans in the industry had offered their advice to Belizean farmers on how to grow and manage the crop. This week’s edition of Belize on Reel takes a closer look at the African Palm Oil and found out that while it produces a very healthy cooking oil, the labour it requires for harvesting is a challenge. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

File: Jan 18, 2024: Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture

“I believe that one other option is African palm oil. Although the environmentalists have a little concern about it because in other countries when they planted African palm oil, they had to clear a lot of land. In this case, it’s not that, because the lands are very clear for citrus. It’s just replacing the dead orchards with another product.”

Marion Ali, Reporting

Back in January, the African Palm Oil industry showed a lot of promise. At an investment summit, Guatemalan agro producers shared their interest, expertise and knowledge with Belizean farmers who were previously involved in declining crops like citrus and bananas. But there hasn’t been much advancement since then to establish an African Palm Oil Industry.

Hugh O’Brien, Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture

“Belize so far, it’s not like any physical research has begun. We were at an exploration stage in terms of the African oil palm industry. The oil generated from the oil palm, from the African oil palm dominates just about between 33 and 34 percent of the oil market in the world, of the plant oil market, if I can call it that. You’re comparing it to soybeans, to sunflower and other oils that are used, coconut oil and so on. So it’s the biggest – it is the largest oil-producing plant in the world. It’s a plant that can produce 3,000 pounds of oil per acre.”

Aside from its economic potential, the product from African Palm Oil is considered among the healthiest naturally produced oils for cooking. In addition, it is also used in different types of cosmetics.

Hugh O’Brien

“You can export in its crude form, and there are other companies in the world that will buy that, and then purify it more, and use it in cosmetics, and consumption oil and facial creams and soaps and it’s a wide range of products that is produced from African Oil Palm.”

But why has the discussion on the product not gone past the exploratory stage? Advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture, Hugh O’Brien says there were some challenges that were identified that this crop would pose for Belize.

Hugh O’Brien

“We have not made a decision to go full scale ahead. We have not closed the doors on the opportunity, but based on how things are with our other industries, interest from our farmers we’re going to make that decision. It is just like coconut is, it does take an amount of labour to get the fruits harvested to manage your farm. All our industries are struggling right now. The papaya people are having challenges getting workers. The coconut farmers are having challenges getting workers. In fact, this year we’re going to be losing between 150,000 to 200,000 boxes of oranges because we have been unable to harvest it fast enough because of labour challenges.”

We visited a residence in Teakettle Village where African Palm Oil trees are grown but for decorative purposes only. Marion Ali for News Five.

DFC Embraces Equity Financing with Royal Mayan Shrimp Farm

On Wednesday, The Development Finance Corporation (DFC) held a ceremony in Belmopan to celebrate the signing of the Letter of Loan Offer with Royal Mayan Shrimp Farm Ltd. At the event, Raineldo Guerrero, chairman of the DFC, said “We’re celebrating because for the first time, the Development Finance Corporation has taken on equity financing as a major part of his portfolio. But what’s important is the significance of the steps that we have taken, both in the case of Royal Mayan Shrimp Farm and the development finance, that it wasn’t a simple process, it was a journey.”

Managing Director of Royal Mayan Shrimp Farm Ltd., Alvin Henderson said, “we’re very grateful for DFC’s partnership in this. I mean, we’re in a developing country. We’re not in a place where one accesses easily R&D. So many times the Research and Development is actually done with borrowed funds, and this is what makes it quite challenging. But in the case of DFC, they stood by us as we ran these important trials over the last two years in the field and that became very critical because the trials we have in the field, which is the basis of the investment that’s being made now, have been stellar.”

This partnership “comes out of the DFC’s new investment policy that we adopted or the board adopted as part of moving towards Green Climate accreditation. Green Climate Fund accreditation,” said General Manager of DFC, Henry Anderson.

Citrus Official Says Industry is Rebounding Gradually

The citrus industry has endured one of its most challenging periods since it was established over a hundred years ago. One agriculture official shared his thoughts with News Five that while the industry may not return to its glory days when it was one of Belize’s highest revenue earners, it is not going to die. Hugh O’Brien, who is the Program Officer for Citrus Diversification for the Ministry of Agriculture says that coupled with other problems in the past, one major challenge at the end of the last decade was citrus greening. But slowly, citrus is starting to perform better now than recent years.

Hugh O’Brien, Program Officer, Citrus Diversification, Min. of Agric.

“We’re going through a phase where Belize was hit hard by citrus greening back in 2009 and 2010 somewhere around there, and citrus greening had its impact slowly and our industry really started going downhill around 2013 or so. And production has been going down ever since. Last year was our worst year of production ever in a long, time, probably in about 50 or so years. Last year we did at the factory just over 300,000 boxes of oranges and grapefruit represents.”

Marion Ali

“How much of the best days?”

Hugh O’Brien

“Oh the best years we were at eight million boxes, so that’s about one third of a million boxes, so it’s one-twentieth of our previous production. Now suffice me to say, though that despite the fact that CPBL received 300,000 plus boxes, 323 if I remember exactly, or 330, both grapefruit and oranges, a new plant, Silk Grass Plant, began operation and they themselves received 40,000 boxes. So that’s the 330 plus 40 is 370. And then on the local market, we easily consume about 30 or 40, 000 boxes, so it takes us to about 400 and then Guatemala in particular, the trucks are passing because they don’t have any oranges. So all the orange juice that you drink in Melchor and Flores, at all of these resorts, is all coming from Belize’s oranges.”

C.O.I. Into Sugar Industry Hits the Ground Running

The Commission of Inquiry into the sugar industry has begun its work. Hugh O’Brien, the Lead Coordinator of the Commission of Inquiry, informed News Five that the commission has met with B.S.I. He explained that the company has been very open to the process thus far. He further noted that the commission has also received a presentation from Santander and that they had scheduled meetings with the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association today. Here is what he told us.

Hugh O’Brien, Lead Coordinator, Commission of Inquiry

“The ambience between the people that the commissioners have met, particularly, we’ve sat down, we spent a day and a half with BSI. That went extremely well. BSI was very, very open. They shared their ideas, information that they had with them and various components of the factory and how the factory operates and their overall program and their views for the industry in terms of what they see is needed for Belize from their perspective. And then the tour of the factory with BSI went extremely well. And then the following day, the second day they did a tour of field activities, BSI’s operations at the field level, their farms and the services that they are with a view from their perspective that they have in mind. That they can contribute towards helping to modernize the industry in Belize. The commissioners have not yet met with the association. This morning, in fact, while I was doing an interview there with CTV3 and their talk show, they are calling me because currently they are meeting with the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association at the SIRDE office in Buena Vista. The commissioners also yesterday did a complete, they received a presentation from Santander which have a very different structure and they’ve toured the Santander factory, and they also had a complete tour of the Santander fields of sugar cane. So, they’re getting a good view and a good handle of what is, what is occurring in Belize. Before that, they had presentations from the staff at the Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute. They had a presentations and discussion with the sugarcane production committee because the way sugar is delivered in the north is very different than the west and is a very intricate system in the north because of the large number of small farmers and people battling to try to get their sugar into the factory. So, I have to say that both B.S.I. and Santander so far is going quite well.”

C.O.I. will Request Documents from Industry Stakeholders

As we have reported, the B.S.I. has placed on record that it cannot share proprietary and confidential information. O’Brien says that following their meetings with industry stakeholders, the commission will be putting together a list of documents that it will be requesting from stakeholders, including B.S.I. He noted that the commission operates with a degree of legal authority to request information it believes will assist them in their deliberations.

Hugh O’Brien, Lead Coordinator, Commission of Inquiry

“B.S.I. have made their concerns public. They’ve issued a public release. One of the statements that they have made, I will say categorically, is false. The commission has never changed its focus. The terms of reference of the commission of inquiry, it was drafted and there were concerns that B.S.I. raised. That’s when I kind of got involved and the prime minister asked me to, and I said, we’ve had discussions with B.S.I. They sent back recommendations from their standpoint, and we made adjustments to the terms of reference, but we never gave in to what B.S.I. wanted. The terms of reference was modified, tweaked, but has remained with the same initial structure. B.S.I. obviously is concerned in their view that some of the aspects that are required by the commissioners to do, for example, to look at costings of some components of the processing side, manufacturing costs, the bagging and those costs that are in B.S.I.’s view is a private arrangement between them and the cane farmers association and should not be subject to any external opinion and views because they have. That’s their territory. They might be correct, but legally speaking, we’ll see how that play out. But if the commissioners ask and they want to see that information, the commissioners, a commission of inquiry has great deal of power. And I think that’s why I probably, why it might not be wise for B.S.I. also to make public statements because let the commissioners make the request and let’s see if they, maybe if they don’t ask for it, who knows? So making the statements might be mute if they ask for it and you don’t provide it. Then we’ll see how that plays out in a in a legal scenario as far as I am aware right now the commissioners have taken a very different approach. They want it to be as participatory as possible. So that they understand quite well a bit different than other commissions of inquiry. Nobody will be taken to court and be charged and so on. So they understand quite well that they are really only putting together concrete recommendations. It will then be for the government of the day, whether it is P.U.P. or U.D.P. or whoever, which P for them to make the final decision, cabinet to make policy decisions and the house to make legal changes to the act.”

The commission has a deadline of November thirtieth to complete its report.

“It’s no surprise.” – P.M. on B.S.I.’s Position

Prime Minister John Briceño has also chimed in on B.S.I.’s firmly held position that it will not surrender confidential company documents to the commission. He says that it comes as no surprise; however, the commissioners that are empanelled are aptly qualified to carry out the inquiry into the sugar industry.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Well I think any private company can make whatever statement they believe is in their interest and they’ve been saying it from day one that certain information they are not going to or are not prepared to provide. So it’s no surprise. What is important though is that the commissioners that we got are highly qualified and they are very skilled in what they are doing and they believe that they will be able to come up with a report within the allotted, I think it’s six months. They believe that they can do it before then.”

Is a Price Increase the Solution to Sugar Smuggling?

Last week, we asked the Minister of Agriculture if the cost of sugar will increase to compete with prices in neighboring Guatemala and Mexico. He told us that B.S.I. has been requesting the increase, but they have not provided any justification for it. So, the Cabinet is yet to decide whether it will take that route to combat sugar smuggling. Well, Hugh O’Brien, the Lead Coordinator for the Commission of Inquiry into the sugar industry, believes that a sugar price increase is the perfect solution.

Hugh O’Brien, Lead Coordinator, Commission of Inquiry

“I mean the solution, the perfect solution to that will be a price adjustment, but that’s not an easy thing. And my own views on that is very different than a bit on the prime minister and my minister. To me, in my view, we should just allow sugar to be sold. Well, one, increase the price a little bit for the sugar that you have in the small bags. Plus this, what the Chinese man package and put in their small bags. And then you have, sugar that B.S.I. and Santander are allowed to produce and package nicely and properly labeled and have it with whatever stickers and beautiful coloring and whatever they want to put and have that sold for whatever price people are prepared to pay for it. Have two sugar in the local market that way there’ll be never be a sugar shortage.”

Sheep Slowly Making its way on to Belizean Plates

It’s been almost a decade since the Sheep and Goat Project was introduced in Belize by the Republic of China, Taiwan and Belize’s Ministry of Agriculture with the goal of expanding the sheep and goat industry and the project is still going strong. The sheep industry, while not comparable to Belize’s cattle industry in terms of consumption has displayed growth since the inception of the project and is still working its way up in numbers. In tonight’s episode of Belize on Reel, we take you to the Central Farm Agricultural Station in Cayo, where we learned why this project was implemented in Belize and how it has impacted the industry. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with that story.

Britney Gordon, reporting

How many sheep do you think are in Belize currently? One thousand? Five thousand? Or perhaps a hundred thousand? In 2015, a head count indicated that there were ten thousand sheep officially in the country. And now, almost a decade later, that number has almost doubled to eighteen thousand sheep. At the Central Farm Agricultural Station, in Cayo, this small but important industry is thriving. And while lamb may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a meal in Belize, for many farmers, their livelihoods depend on it. Elder Quewell, Field Manager of the Belize Sheep and Goat Project, tells us how the team has been working to get the industry going in the country.

Elder Quewell, Field Manager

“The main objective is basically to provide farmers with pure bred sheep and goat so that they can improve their stocks.”

Britney Gordon

“So it’s to diversify the stocks that they have and have it be better quality. How has this affected the sheep industry in Belize?”

Elder Quewell

“It has for example, it has increased the consumption, for example, from the starting point of the industry It was, consumption was zero point two nine and has incremented to one pound presently consumption of this. And it is continuing to expand as people get familiarized with the with the sheep.”

The consumption rate of sheep in Belize has tripled from zero point two nine pounds to one pound per person. But this change has occurred over a timespan of almost a decade. Quewell says that while the project is succeeding in growing the industry, he hopes that farmers would be able to access more opportunities as the industry continues to expand.

Britney Gordon

“Have you seen success in this project? Do people know about it? Are you seeing improvements in the breeds that people have?”

Elder Quewell

“Yes, there are improvements, however there has to be more opportunities given to the farmers as well, right? Because if they are able to produce good quality, they also need to provide a doorway so that they can have access to market.”

Britney Gordon

“Do you anticipate this project will continue to grow? What’s the future looking like for this project?”

Elder Quewell

“From my perception I can see that people here in Belize are starting to familiarize with the consumption, right? And there is where the demand starts. So I’m thinking that if we put the initiative and we put more focus into what is the ship, then that will be part of what will be more expansion.”

Aside from the sale of pure-bred sheep and goats, the team also assists farmers to better their stock through training sessions on how to prepare the feed for the animals, vaccinate and tag them and even how to properly prepare the meat in various dishes such as curry lamb. The preparation of this dish is taught to Belizeans across the country. The funding for this project came from the Republic of China, Taiwan, that has been a partner in this initiative since its inception in 2015. Next year, the Taiwanese government will be moving on to fund a different project. Benjamin Ma, a Sheep Project Specialist, tells us that giving Belize’s Sheep industry the opportunity to grow has been an important endeavor.

Benjamin Ma, Sheep Project Specialist

“The Taiwan government is mostly funding this project and provide new technical to the sheep project. And I think mostly we are doing the breeding program more, because in Belize we don’t have the pure breed much so win this farm we provide one hundred percent pure. Three breeds, Katahdin, BBB, and the other Dorper.”

To ensure that the farmers have access to high quality sheep, the animals must be well taken care of. And for farmhand Misael Gonzalez, the wellbeing of these animals is a primary concern. He explains how the sheep are fed, vaccinated, groomed and loved by the workers.

Misael Gonzalez, Farmhand

“In the morning when we come here and take a walk to check the barn, see if any animal is good, any animal is injured or something. And then we get the feed, which is here, grass, which we go harvest outside. So we get the feed and we start feeding in the morning before that. Then we check the water trough, the water from them, see if it is clean or it needs clean. If it’s dirty, we wash it and we clean it and everything. And then we milk the babies because they can’t drink from their mom or something. We milk them and that’s all. We just take care of the rest.”

The job includes a list of responsibilities, however, Gonzalez says that being able to bond with the animals and help Belizean farmers gain access to quality sheep make the job fulfilling.

Britney Gordon

“Do you enjoy doing your job?

Misael Gonzalez

“Yeah, I enjoy it when I’m giving milk. Like the babies, they follow you and things like that. I just enjoy working here.”

Britney Gordon

“So why do you think that this job is important?”

Misael Gonzalez

“This job is important because we help other farmers to get better breeds, to get better sheep. Let’s say if they want, they don’t have a type of breed, we can sell them and give it to them so they get better breeds and things.”

The industry still has a long way to go, nonetheless, it is on the way to becoming an integral part of Belize’s agriculture industry. Britney Gordon for News Five.

Hugh O’Brien Says Sugar Industry Commission of Inquiry “Going Quite Well”

Commission of Inquiry Begins Investigation into Belize’s Sugar Industry

The Commission of Inquiry into Belize’s sugar cane industry, established by Prime Minister John Briceño on March 19, held its first meeting on May 29. The Commission, led by Chairman Wayne Piper and commissioners from Belize, Mauritius, South Africa, and the UK, aims to examine the industry’s entire value chain and provide recommendations to the government. The initial meeting outlined plans for visits to sugar mills and production sites across Belize, with commissioners arriving in early June. The Commission’s proceedings will not be public, but updates will be provided through the Lead Coordinator, Hugh O’Brien. The final report is expected by November 30, 2024.

BSI Expresses Concerns Over Commission’s Focus

In a press release dated June 4th, Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSI) expressed support for the Commission’s role in advising on industry modernization. However, BSI also expressed concern. Its primary concern is sharing proprietary information due to competitive pressures. BSI stated it would not cooperate if the Commission’s focus shifts to negotiating a new commercial agreement, which they consider a private matter. BSI says it is open to discussing reforms to industry regulations and participating in efforts to improve mill efficiency and cane yields in northern Belize.

BSCFA Calls for Public Inquiry and Cooperation

The Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) later issued its press release on June 6th. BSCFA says that it welcomed the commencement of the Commission’s work, viewing it as long overdue since the last inquiry in 1969. The BSCFA emphasised the importance of this investigation for the sugar industry and urged the Commission to hold public meetings. The BSCFA expressed concern over BSI/ASR’s position on sharing sensitive information with the Commission.

Lead Coordinator, Hugh O’Brien, says Inquiry Going Quite Well

On June 13th, News Five’s Marion Ali caught up with Hugh O’Brien, the Lead Coordinator for the inquiry in Orange Walk Town. When asked how the inquiry is going, O’Brien said, “The inquiry to, in my view so far is going quite well. The ambience between the people that the commissioners have met, particularly, we’ve sat down. We spent a day and a half with BSI. That went extremely well. BSI was very, very open. They shared their information that they had with them and various components of the factory and how the factory operates and their overall program and their views for the industry in terms of what they see is needed for Belize from their perspective. And then the tour of the factory with BSI went extremely well. And then following that the second day they did a tour of field activities, BSI’s operations at the field level, their farms and the services that they are with a view from their perspective that they have in mind. That they can contribute towards helping to modernize the industry in Belize.”

When asked about the commissioners’ views, O’Brien said, “they are calling me because currently they are meeting with the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association at the SIRDI office in Buena Vista and the commissioners also yesterday did a complete, they receive a presentation from Santander which have a very different structure and they’ve toured the Santander factory and they also had a complete tour of the Santander fields of sugar cane. So, they’re getting a good view and a good handle of, of what is occurring in Belize? Previous to that, they had presentations from the staff at the Sugar Industrial Research and Development Institute. They had a presentation and discussion with the sugarcane production committee because the way sugar is delivered in the north is very different than the west and is a very intricate system in the north because of the large number of small farmers and people battling to try to get their sugar into the factory.”

When asked about the concerns raised by BSI, O’Brien said, “The commission has never changed its focus. The terms of reference of the commission of inquiry was drafted and there were concerns that BSI raised. That’s when I kind of got involved and the prime minister asked me to, and I said, we’ve had discussion with BSI. They sent back recommendations from their standpoint and we made adjustments to the terms of reference, but we never gave in to what BSI wanted.”

O’Brien said that the commissioners will now create a list of specific items that they want from the two factories.

Interview with Hafiz Muminjanov on FAO’s Coconut Initiative in Belize

The FAO’s One Country, One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative has launched its inception workshop to begin a project aimed at enhancing Belize’s coconut value chain. This global initiative will produce a comprehensive value chain analysis and a three-year development plan for Belize’s coconut sector.

The workshop included over 110 stakeholders, discussing project implementation and regional and national priorities for OCOP. To date, around USD 15 million has been mobilized to support 54 countries. In Belize, activities involve creating a national task force and a collaborative work plan with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security, and Enterprise.

To get a better understanding of the project, News Five spoke with Hafiz Muminjanov, OCOP Global Coordinator, OCOP Secretariat, Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO.

1. What is the objective of the FAO One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative?

FAO has developed the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative to build more sustainable food value chains of Special Agricultural Products (SAPs), which was globally launched on 7 September 2021. Special Agricultural Products (SAPs) are agricultural products with unique qualities and special characteristics associated with geographical locations, farming practices and cultural heritages. Compared to staple food crops, SAPs have not yet fully benefited from agricultural and rural development programmes.
The FAO OCOP initiative aims to enhance food security, livelihoods, environmental sustainability, and income generation for rural populations through the sustainable development of SAP’s value chains, from sustainable production to storage, processing and marketing.
The initiative supports countries in the transition to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems. OCOP is not an initiative that promotes monocropping production systems but focuses on diversification, unlocking the untapped potential of agricultural products, and identifying and addressing gaps in the value chain.

2. How is the OCOP initiative funded, and what is its total budget?

The implementation of the OCOP initiative started with the formulation of the Global Action Plan and application guidance for the countries and the conducting of a series of training sessions.
The activities in the field began with the implementation of the global project funded by FAO Flexible Voluntary Contributions (FVC) in 2022, starting in five demonstration countries in five FAO regions – Bangladesh, Egypt, Malawi, Uzbekistan and Trinidad and Tobago. Further funding was received from various sources, including a trust fund project supported by JICA in Ghana, the FAO-China South-South Cooperation (SSC) Programme, FVC, and allocations from the FAO Regular Programme. Regional and national projects funded by the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) have also supported the initiative.

As of 1 June 2024, about USD 18 million has been received to support the implementation of OCOP in 60 countries.

*National Coconut Stakeholders Seminar and Market Fair 2023*

3. Can you name the countries participating in the global project and their selected Special Agricultural Products (SAPs)?

To date, 85 Members from all five FAO Regions – Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Near East and North Africa – have expressed strong interest in promoting the sustainable development of the value chains of 54 Special Agricultural Products (SAPs), including 28 horticultural and 15 field crops, 6 livestock products and 5 forest products.
From the Region of Latin America and the Caribbean, 14 countries are promoting 12 SAPS. The countries and SAPs include:
- Bahamas: Poultry
- Belize: Coconut
- Bolivia: Quinoa
- Chile: Honey
- Colombia: Sugarcane
- Ecuador: Cocoa
- Guatemala: Coffee
- Jamaica: Ginger
- Mexico: Amaranth
- Nicaragua: Low-Carbon Livestock Production
- Panama: Coffee
- Peru: Potato
- Trinidad and Tobago: Cocoa
- Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela: Coffee

For more information, please visit the OCOP global website which is in all six official UN languages https://www.fao.org/one-country-one-priority-product/about/special-agricultural-products-(saps)/en

4. How does the OCOP initiative contribute to the development of smallholders and family farms?

OCOP promotes diverse and integrated food systems, creating sustainable development and market opportunities for small-scale farmers. It places smallholders and family farms at the center of its efforts, using their unique strengths.
OCOP provides tailored support to countries to strengthen the value chain of their SAPs opening doors to regional and international markets.

5. What are the activities planned for Belize under the regional OCOP, and who are the key partners involved?

The promotion of OCOP in Belize will be supported in the framework of the new project funded by the FAO Flexible Voluntary Contribution (FVC) mechanism.
The project with a total budget of USD 1 million will be implemented from 01 March 2024 to 31 December 2025. The project will cover 11 countries from all FAO regions located in the tropics, drylands, mountainous zones as well as the Small Island Developing States.
This global project aims to expand the implementation of the OCOP initiative on a global scale. .
In the project framework, Belize will promote coconut as the SAP. The key activities in Belize include establishing OCOP technical networks, capacity development of farmers and stakeholders, conducting the value chain analysis and upgrading national strategy on coconut sector. The project will also establish the mechanism for coordination and communication – such as national task force and will raise awareness among a wide range of stakeholders.
The OCOP global partners include UNIDO, UNODC, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc.
The key National Taskforce Partners in Belize is likely to include the Ministry of Agriculture Food Security and Enterprise (MAFSE), Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute (SIRDI), University of Belize (UB), International Trade Center (ITC), Financial Institutions, Processors, Exporters, Cooperatives/Associations.

6. What were some of the highlights discussed during the inception workshop held on April 3, 2024?

OCOP is inherently country-owned and country-led, tailoring strategies to each country’s specific needs, priorities, and comparative advantages.
Customizing approaches to fit unique contexts is paramount for effective implementation, focusing on establishing technical networks, enabling environments, and coordination mechanisms.
Project countries show great potential to promote the synergies between OCOP and other initiatives, programmes and projects at FAO and beyond.

Notably, six project countries are engaged in the FAO Hand-in-Hand Initiative and five in the Digital Village Initiative.

7. How many participants attended the inception workshop, and what was its main purpose?

Over 110 participants attended the virtual inception workshop of the project, where the project objectives and implementation modalities were discussed, challenges shared and priorities for the OCOP initiative at regional and national levels defined. The overall objective of the project is to improve food security, livelihoods, environmental sustainability, and income for rural populations through the sustainable development of special agricultural product value chains.

8. Can you list some of the challenges and priorities discussed during the workshop regarding the implementation of the OCOP initiative?

This included strengthening financial, technical, and human resources at the global, regional, and country levels; engaging a wide range of stakeholders to support activities at the country and field levels; and monitoring and facilitating OCOP projects.