Sheep and Goat Industry Back on the Grind

Sheep and goat aren’t known to be traditionally consumed in Belizean households. Its market is primarily the tourism sector. This particular livestock industry was crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic when the tourism industry was shattered over the past two years. So with the completion of this project, Agriculture Minister Jose Abelardo Mai was asked about the viability of the sheep and goat industry.

Jose Abelardo Mai

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security & Enterprise

“These animals have been brought in, they have been sold to farmers across the country so that they can improve what they have existing already.”

Reporter

“How has this made affordable protein more available to people?”

Jose Abelardo Mai

“Well I am not sure about the price on the market; I think it fluctuates. But the market for sheep prior to COVID was the tourism sector. After that crashed, we couldn’t sell any more. We were up sheep creek so to speak. But now it has rebounded, the people are demanding good breeding stock and now it is moving.

in the peak of the COVID, we had an overstock. We were feeding them daily and it was costing us. Farmers wanted it, but the economy was in a bad shape, so we made a policy decision to slash the price and get them out to the farmers. So famers are please now and they are buying. It will be a matter of time before we see that the sheep industry is back again.”