Growing the Tilapia Sector in Belize
Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Private Sector in Belize were absorbed in a week of intense training geared towards developing the country’s Tilapia sector.
Delivered by Ms Bree Romuld, FAO’s Agribusiness and Value Chain Development Consultant for the Caribbean, the training sought to introduce a more systematic planning process for value chains which would lead to a better understanding of markets and assist the Government in coming up with a 1-5 year strategic plan to increase market opportunities.
The training sessions aimed at empowering the representatives so they are better positioned to conduct their own value chain analyses so they can better support various sectors, using Tilapia as an example, and further push the development of a robust industry. During the week of meetings, the participants also had the opportunity to engage with farmers and markets to have an improved understanding of the value chain process.
It is expected that the training sessions will help with improving market analysis to identify which products have the highest potential and high profitability in order to build strong markets and better inform decision making for farmers and retailers.
The training took place in the Cayo District of Belize and was the first phase of trainings geared towards institutionalizing value chain development within the Ministry.
About the Project
Training on Value Chain Development in Belize is being supported through the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme under the project “Sub-regional Capacity building in Sustainable Food Systems and Value Chain Development”. The project is geared towards developing technical capacity in applying and mainstreaming a value chain approach for the development of priority crops and commodities.
The project geared towards taking a hands on approach to value chain development by moving away from external consultants completing value chain analyses and moving towards training Government representatives to conduct their own analyses. This continuously improving and innovative approach is a direct result of the successful execution of FAO’s Ginger Project in Jamaica and is expected to have a greater impact as a result of a more detailed understanding of the development of value chains.