Food System Profile of Belize

A Food System Profile of Belize, conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in collaboration with the European Union and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development found that Belize has a stable agri-food system. A forty-two page report with recommendations on how Belize can transform its Food Systems has been handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security, and Enterprise. In summary, the report finds that while Belize fulfils approximately sixty percent of its national food consumption needs, access to good quality and safe food remains a challenge. The report sites high cost of notorious foods and increasing unemployment and poverty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons why Belizeans are consuming less healthy diets. The report recommends that these poverty, vulnerability, and inequality issues be addressed with targeted policies, including social protection. Commenting on the report at a handing over ceremony earlier this week, Minister of Agriculture, Abelardo Mai said, (quote), the revealing information from the assessment sets the pace for Belize to focus on what needs to be done over the coming years, (unquote).