Handing over of Sewing Machines

Handing over of Sewing Machines
Ten sewing machines were handed over today to the Santa Cruz Hibiscus Mayan Art and Crafts Cooperative in the Toledo District. The event was made successful through the project, Cooperatives’ Rapid Response to COVID 19 and the 2020 floods in Belize.
The co-operative, whose members are made of only women, is involved in handmade arts and craft products such as basket, cuxtal, earrings, bracelets, embroidery and the sewing of traditional clothes.
To commemorate today’s event three trees were planted as a symbol of reducing the impact of Climate Change.
Present at the handing over were Minister of Agriculture Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai; Minister of Rural Transformation, Community Development, Local Government Hon. Oscar Requena; Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Servulo Baeza; Chief Agriculture Officer, Dr. Victoriano Pascual; Registrar of Cooperatives Gareth Murillo; Ag. Managing Director of the Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology, Mrs. Michelle Longsworth; National Coordinator at GEF Small Grants Program UNDP, Mr. Leonel Requena; members of the Hibiscus Mayan Art and Crafts Cooperative, technical officers of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Cooperatives, and Resilient Rural Belize.

Handing over of a Water Catchment System

Handing over of a water catchment system
A ceremony was held today for the inauguration and handing over of a water catchment system for Los Pequenos Agricultores y Ganaderos de Nago Bank Cooperative.
The event, which took place at the Nago Bank Community in the Belize District, comes through a call for project proposals from the United Nations Development Project’s Global Environment Fund Small Grants program in the late 2020, where the Department of Cooperatives conceived a partnership with the Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology (BEST).
The water catchment system, which is valued at a total of BZE $9000 is designed to assist the cooperative in making investments to enable their members to adapt and be more resilient to climate change.
After the signing, two mahogany trees were planted as a symbol of reducing the impact of Climate Change, which was then followed by the handing over of a Hundred and Twenty Five vegetable cases to the Chairman of the Cooperative by Resilient Rural Belize Officer Mr. Joe Lisbey.
Present at the event were Minister of Agriculture Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai, Area Representative for Belize Rural North Hon. Marconi Leal, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture Mr. Servulo Baeza, Registrar of Cooperatives Mr. Gareth Murillo, Ag. Managing Director of the Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology Mrs. Michelle Longsworth , National Coordinator at GEF Small Grants Program UNDP Mr. Leonel Requena, Members of the Pequenos Agricultores y Ganaderos de Nago Bank Cooperative and Technical Officers of the Department of Agriculture, Department of Cooperatives and from Resilient Rural Belize.

Orange Walk Cooperatives Carry Exchange Visit with Valley of Peace Coops.

Orange Walk Cooperatives Carry Exchange Visit with Valley of Peace Coops.
56 members from four cooperative groups in the Orange Walk District are currently attending a one-day exchange visit with cooperatives from Valley of Peace in the Cayo District.
The exchange visit has been organized as part of an educational program to build organizational capacity through practical experience for all members to get real time learning experiences in developing from a new group into a well-organized co-operative. The exchange visit also seeks to improve the knowledge and practices of all the visiting producer organizations by integrating the experiences gained from the visit into their daily activities and operations.
Resilient Rural Belize facilitated the visit in collaboration with the Cooperatives Department and the Ministry of Agriculture. Participating cooperative member are from the San Carlos New River Farmers’ Co-operative, the Indian Church Farmers Pre-Co-op, San Felipe Maya Golden Honey Group, and the Orange Walk Beekeepers Co-operative.
Members participating will also visit the Central Farm Horticulture Unit and Apiary Station to witness a firsthand look at the different production systems being implemented in both honey and vegetables production.

Hands-on Training Session on Bio-inputs

Hands-on Training Session on Bio-inputs
16 young people belonging to the Zion Youth Group in San Pedro, Colombia in the Toledo District attended a hands-on training session on Bio-inputs last week.
The objective of the training was to promote Climate Smart Agriculture Practices, in making bio-inputs to reduce the use of pesticides by introducing bio-fertilizers.
The hands-on training focused on the process of making organic pesticides, bio-insecticide to control leaf eaters, bio-fungicide, bio- ant controller and madre de cacao bio-fertilizer. The products elaborated were glass water (bio-insecticide), sodium bicarbonate-based broth (bio-insecticide) and Madrifol (foliar fertilizer).
The training was facilitated by Resilient Rural Belize Extension Officer Mr. Alberto Chacon along with MAFSE Extension Officer Mr. Adrian Mendoza. The youth group which participated in the training is composed of both males and females.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise continues to engage farmers and youth in these types of training in order to find alternative ways to overcome the soaring prices of agricultural inputs.

Training in the Rearing of Backyard Chickens

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23 women from Nuevo San Juan and Santa Martha Villages in the Orange Walk district have received training in the rearing of backyard chickens.
The training covered the introduction to backyard chickens, genetic improvements, feeding and nutrition, construction of chicken coops and birth health (Vaccination program and diseases).
The training was facilitated by Extension Officers Mr. Vicente Tuyub, and Mr. Federico Chi along with Cooperative Officer Mr. Francis Vega and Mr. Cornelio Tzib from Resilient Rural Belize.
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One-day training session on calibration, calculation of Pesticide

One-day training session on calibration, calculation of Pesticide
A total of 30 farmers from San Vicente and Jalacte Villages benefited from a one-day training session on calibration, calculation and the use of pesticides held last week in the Toledo District.
The training was conducted by the Pesticides Control Board in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Maya Leaders Alliance.
Farmers who are interested in renewing their pesticide license or in applying for one, are asked to contact the Agriculture Department in their district for the date schedule to undertake the training.

Initial Stages of Registration of the Sembrando Vida project

Initial Stages of Registration of the Sembrando Vida project
The initial stages of registration of the Sembrando Vida project have taken place in Orange Walk on August 24 and 25.
Farmers from rural areas of Orange Walk registered in the pilot phase of the Sembrando Vida project, undertaken by the Mexican Government through AMEXCID, the Agencia Mexicana de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarollo or Mexican International Cooperation Agency for Development, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise of Belize.
The Sembrando Vida project offers support for rural farmers throughout the country of Belize, and is being administered in other Central American countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as well.
Some 2000 Belizean farmers throughout Belize will benefit from the project. The pilot phase of registration has taken place in Orange Walk and will continue later in the year in other districts. The project will also include hiring extension officers to work with the beneficiary farmers to offer help with crops, planting, biofertilizer production, and bio-forestry. Farmers will get economic assistance, tools, seeds, fertilizer and technical assistance as the program aims to assist farmers from vulnerable areas of the country so they produce their own food, sell any surplus and become self-sustaining in food security.
Belizes’s participation in Sembrando Vida is part of the commitment made by president Manuel Lopez Obrador during his recent visit to Belize.

GIS based Feasibility Analysis Training

GIS based Feasibility Analysis Training
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture Food Security and Enterprise hosted today a half day training workshop on “Project Beneficiary Selection using GIS based Feasibility Analysis”. The aim of the workshop was to build the capacity of the Extension Service Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and stakeholders in using GIS based food security and general statistical data analysis to determine project feasibility and targeted interventions.
The workshop is an activity under the project of FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme entitled “Technical Assistance for Inclusive, Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems in Selected Rural and Peri Urban Territories of Cayo District, Belize, as a response to COVID-19 (TCP/BZ/3801).
The training was facilitated by FAO GIS expert consultants Mr. Kirk Frekelton and Mr. Theodore Marshall from Jamaica. The workshop is designed to allow participants to apply a multicriteria evaluation technique using GIS software along with the FAO’s Hand in Hand Geospatial Platform.
Attending the training were technical officers from the Ministry of Agriculture Extension Service and the Policy Unit; Belize Marketing and Development Corporation (BMDC); the Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute (SIRDI); Cooperative Department, and the Ministry of Rural Transformation.

Signing of Agreement and Handing over of a 19 HP Rototiller

Signing of Agreement and Handing over of a 19 HP Rototiller
Today the Santa Familia Grains, Vegetables and Legumes Co-operative were recipients of a 19-horsepower rototiller granted under the project “Cooperatives’ Rapid Response to COVID 19 and the 2020 Floods in Belize”.
In late 2020, the Department of Co-operatives conceived a partnership with the Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology (BEST) in developing a national project proposal to access grant funding for eleven registered co-operatives from low-income rural communities.
This project, which is financed by the UNDP Global Environment Fund/Small Grants Program was designed to assist Co-operatives in making investment to enable their members to adapt and be more resilient to climate change.
Present at the event was Chief Executive Officer from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security & Enterprise Servulo Baeza, Registrar of Cooperatives Mr. Gareth Murillo, Mrs. Michelle Longsworth Ag. Managing Director from the Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology, Mr. Leonel Requena National Coordinator at GEF Small Grants Program UNDP, Chairman and Members of the Santa Familia Grains, Vegetables and Legumes Cooperative and personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Department.

Training on the Control and treatment of the crazy ants (Nylanderia Fulva)

Training on the Control and treatment of the crazy ants (Nylanderia Fulva)
Ministry of Agriculture Extension Officer Mr. Andre Logan, along with BAHA personnel, are currently in Santa Elena, Guatemala attending a three-day training on the Control and treatment of the crazy ants (Nylanderia Fulva).
The purpose of the workshop is to develop an action plan for the invasive species of crazy ants (Nylanderia fulva) in Belize. The Nylanderia fulva is known to be an invasive ant, most recently from Colombia, where an outbreak occurred after this species was apparently introduced to control leafcutter ants and venomous snakes.
The workshop will also cover the current situation of N. fulva in the American continent, experiences of its detection in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and its detection in Belize.
Recently these invasive ants have been detected by farmers living in the villages of Pueblo Viejo, Jalacte, Dolores and Santa Elena in the Toledo District.