Email

Print

Earlier you heard the Prime Minister speak about the finding that Belize currently has enough food domestically to support itself.  That was the determination of “An Agri-food Response and Mitigation to COVID-19 Stakeholder Meetingâ€￾ which was held yesterday.

Minister of Agriculture Godwin Hulse chaired the session, which included the PUP’s Jose Mai, key government partners, and private sector stakeholders of the productive sector.

According to a release, the Food Stock Availability survey confirmed that as of March 24, 2020, Belize has sufficient available supply in storage or in the field of the basic food and feed grains to sustain the population for over six months. These grains include corn, rice, beans, sorghum, and soybean. For sugar, there are two months’ worth of white sugar and five months’ worth of brown sugar; however, with continued milling, the annual domestic demand will be exceeded.

Chicken and eggs are normally held in short stock; however, the normal production capacity is in place to continue to supply the local demand once the processing facilities remain operational. Beef, pig, and local cheese stocks exceed six months.

For vegetables, there is enough supply of most products, both in the field and in storage, for the next two months including onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and sweet pepper. Other vegetables that are no longer in production and are commonly imported will continue to be imported through the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation.â€￾