BELMOPAN, Belize – The ministry of agriculture, food security, and enterprise, in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), provided coconut seedlings to small-scale coconut farmers in the Orange Walk and Toledo districts on November 23 and 24, respectively.
The seedlings were distributed as part of the advisory services of a Post-COVID-19 Agricultural Value Chain Improvement Project by JICA that commenced in February 2023.
Dr Victoriano Pascual, chief agriculture officer, and Yoshikazu Tachihara, resident representative of the JICA Belize office, were present for the distribution. The beneficiary farmers also participated in a coconut transplanting practical session before they received their trees.
Fifty coconut seedlings were donated to 20 coconut farmers from each district. The seedlings are expected to stimulate increased production for the farmers and provide access to the global value chain to strengthen income-generating capacity.
The next pilot activity for the coconut value chain is a training session to strengthen the coconut farmer cooperatives and initiate collective marketing of coconuts. The training is scheduled for February 2024 in the Orange Walk and Toledo districts.