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The Belize economy is gradually
transforming from one that is primary agricultural
to one that is more service oriented. The service
sector’s contribution to GDP was approximately 59.6%
in 2004, while primary agriculture contributed an
estimated at 18%. In recent years the agricultural
output growth has been driven by increased
production of citrus fruit, bananas and shrimp.
Sugar, traditionally the largest single foreign
exchange earner is now surpassed by seafood products
(lobster and shrimp), and is now marginally of
greater importance.
Belize’s development Strategy aims at achieving
sustainable development, ensuring that all segments
of the population benefit as the country implements
sound and comprehensive socio-economic strategies to
achieve broad-based economic growth. Poverty
reduction from 33% to 28% forms the center-piece of
the Government’s economic development strategy,
which is seeking to bring vulnerable groups into the
mainstream of economic activity. The majority of
poor persons in Belize may be categorized as small
farmers/fishers, indigenous people, women, recent
immigrants, and/or practicing slash/burn and
catering to the domestic market. This has
significant bearings on development in rural areas,
which house an estimated 50% of the total
population, the majority of which are involved in
some form of agricultural activity. Consequently,
agricultural development also constitutes a center-piece
of both poverty reduction and growth strategies.
For the Agriculture sector, the Government is
firmly committed to sustainable rural development
and sees the agricultural sector (including
livestock and fisheries) as providing the economic
base for enhanced economic growth of the country, in
particular of the rural areas, whilst contributing
to poverty alleviation. Fishing, the fastest growing
sub-sector in agriculture and the largest foreign
exchange earner, will be buoyed through sustainable
policies and strategies to improve sustainable
management of the marine resources. The agricultural
and food policies are accordingly designed to make
the agricultural sector more efficient and
competitive, while at the same time, contributing to
the improvement of the economic and social well
being of the population.
The medium term objectives for the sector remain
productivity increases, deeper and greater
diversification of the production base and markets,
competitiveness improvement, and institutional &
networking development with partners-in-development.
The main challenges facing the agricultural sector
in meeting the aforementioned goals are no different
from challenges faced in other CARICOM states. The
coincidence of the Belize policy goals with regional
and hemispheric initiatives provides some a
guarantee of support on the regional and hemispheric
front. The main opportunities for Belize to benefit
from the regional, hemispheric and international and
partnerships are with the CARICOM led Jagdeo
Initiative, the Caribbean Fisheries Regional
Mechanism (CRFM), the UN FAO-led National Medium
Term Investment Profiles (NMTIP), the Summit of the
Americas Agriculture Agenda 2015 and the UN
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially
Goals 1, 3, 7 and Goals 8.
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1 Extracted from the National
Medium Term Priority Framework for FAO Assistance –
Belize Draft document, 2006
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