National Agricultural and Food Policy of Belize 2015-2030.

The National Agricultural and Food Policy 2015-2030 is a national policy with a multi sectoral approach. Its main objective is to provide an environment that is conducive to increasing production and productivity, promoting investment, and encouraging private sector involvement in agribusiness enterprises in a manner that ensures competitiveness, quality production, trade, and sustainability. The framework, therefore, provides a platform to guide the development of actionable proposals to transform the agriculture and food Sector into a modern pillar of economic growth and development in the country. The policy will be implemented over a period of 15 years, from 2015-2030. The period will then be divided into a series of three medium-term (5-year) plans that will be incorporated into the (MOA) work plans, programs, and projects.
Specifically, the policy focuses on enhancing five strategic policy objectives that will directly impact and propel small and large scale agricultural endeavors forward: Pillar 1. Sustainable Production, Productivity and Competitiveness; Pillar 2. Market Development, Access and Penetration; Pillar 3. National Food and Nutrition Security and Rural Livelihoods; Pillar 4. Sustainable Agriculture and Risk Management; and Pillar 5. Governance Accountability, Transparency, and Coordination – This is a cross-cutting pillar which is a major challenge to the Agriculture and Food Sector in Belize. Existing governance systems at the district, zonal, and national levels are deficient in the level of participation, transparency, accountability, evidence-based processes, and institutional and legislative frameworks.
Pillar 3 on National Food and Nutrition Security and Rural Livelihoods looks at ensuring food security for the country (e.g. increasing productivity and decreasing food imports by substituting with local products) and providing opportunities for rural people including women and youth to generate income from productive activities.
Pillar 4 on Sustainable Agriculture and Risk Management focuses on climate change adaptation, environmentally sound production practices, conservation of natural resources, and risk management mechanisms such as crop insurance. It expands on areas of variability and climate change, agro-biodiversity, clean production, and sustainable land management and other natural resources.
Pillar 1 and 2 target the areas of production, productivity, and competitiveness in the sector and how these can be achieved by way of proper mechanisms to ensure quality, adopting innovative technology, and improving infrastructure among others. They focuses on the market opportunities available, but more importantly on the policy and institutional platforms that must be established to capitalize on these opportunities. It focuses on strengthening the markets for commodities produced, bought, and sold by producers through the reduction of transaction cost, managing risk, building social capital, enabling collective actions and identifying new markets.
A multi-sectoral, multi-institutional approach will be taken in which several ministries (public sector), the private sector, civil society and development partners will each have distinct roles to play. Notwithstanding, the MOA and its relevant departments will have the overall responsibility for the integration and coordination of these roles. An Agricultural Sector Coordination Group (ASCG) will also coordinate the implementation of the policy at the national level while Technical Working groups for various thematic areas such as Governance, Production and productivity, and competitiveness among others will prepare well- structured and coherent action plans and appropriate programs for investment. They will assume the responsibility for guiding implementation, recommending, and testing innovations within the sector and prepare various strategic documents and their implementation frameworks. Other committees at the zonal and district levels will also facilitate the implementation of the policy.