Various sectors of Belize’s farming communities had been severely affected by drought, floods and other natural disasters in 2020. Today the DFC and the Ministry of Agriculture signed a crucial partnership agreement that will help all farmers, large and small.
The most recent official data collected by ‘SIB’ has shown remarkable improvement in some sectors and stagnation in production in other sectors. For a closer look at some of the key productive sectors in Agriculture we turn to data published by ‘SIB’ (Statistics Institute of Belize)
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The following is the official statement released in a Joint-Press-Release of the DFC and Ministry of Agriculture.
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“Ministry of Agriculture and DFC Sign Technical Partnership to Better Serve and Provide Financing to Farmers
Belmopan. September 22, 2021. 9:50 a.m.
On Monday, September 20, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise (MoA) and the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) signed a Technical Partnership Agreement (TPA) enabling the two institutions to more effectively share knowledge, information, expertise and support the efficient provision of financing to Belizean farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).
Signing on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture was Mr. Servulo Baeza, chief executive officer, and on behalf of the DFC, Mrs. Natalie Ewing-Goff, general manager.
The TPA covers several areas such as information sharing, collaboration and networking as well as training and capacity building of both DFC and MoA officers in areas including climate-smart agriculture, agriculture production systems, financial management and basic accounting that will enable officers to provide better services to the farmers. In addition, the DFC will work to develop and provide specialized financial products and services tailored to the needs of small farmers and producers, including MSMEs in the agricultural sector.
Speaking on the need of this partnership, Hon. Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, said, “This Technical Partnership Agreement is indeed fleshing out of my Government’s Plan Belize promise, where it is clear in one of the 11 action points of the Agriculture Policy that we will seek affordable financing for our farmers. This is the living out of that promise. I thank the Development Finance Corporation for partnering with the Ministry in the push for progress and development.”
Mrs. Goff stated, “This TPA is not only timely but a giant step towards sustainable development in Belize. Armed with pertinent and technical information and support from sector experts, DFC can better design products and services that are relevant to the immediate and emerging needs within the sector; which, like our citrus product, will facilitate the capital and short term investments, needed to build back smarter.” She closed by saying, “The recovery and sustainable development of this nation, on the 40th anniversary of our independence, is in our hands.”
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