BELMOPAN, Belize – The government of Belize, through the ministry of rural transformation, community development, labour, and local government, in partnership with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), has officially commenced the development of Belize’s National Rural Development Strategy (NRDS) 2026–2031.
This initiative represents a critical step towards establishing a cohesive policy and implementation framework to address institutional and socio-economic challenges faced by rural communities across Belize. The NRDS will serve as a critical roadmap to guide intervention efforts towards sustainable and inclusive investments in Belize’s rural areas.
The NRDS aims to promote inclusive, equitable, and sustainable rural development through targeted interventions that address rural poverty, institutional capacity, access to services, environmental resilience, and local economic development. This strategic initiative is being developed with financial and technical support from CABEI, in alignment with its development cooperation priorities and Belize’s national development agenda.
The strategy will serve as a guiding framework for the government and development partners in the planning, coordinating, and monitoring of rural investments and programmes.
The development of the NRDS will be led by Clio Consulting, a Latin American strategic consulting firm specializing in public management, sustainability, and ESG (environmental, social, and governance), headquartered in Chile, South America.
The preparation process will adopt a participatory and research-based approach. Stakeholder sessions will be carried out with rural communities, local governments, the private sector, community-based and civil society organizations, and other actors. The strategy is expected to be completed by January 2026.
