Minister of Agriculture: Red kidney beans will be imported due to local shortage

By BBN Staff: Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security, and Enterprise said this week that a combination of the recent inclement weather, the COVID-19 pandemic, and poor management from the past government administration has caused a shortage of red kidney beans on the local market, leaving importation as the only option to satisfy local market demand.

Mai explained that when the pandemic hit earlier this year, the administration of the day had done an inventory and determined that there were enough red kidney beans to supply local market demand, not realizing that much of those beans were already committed to being exported. The combination of those exports and other environmental factors has left Belize in its current situation where red kidney beans are scarce.

“Of course red kidney beans are scarce throughout the world. We are importing right now from Argentina, from Mexico, from Canada.” Mai said.

He stressed that the beans are being sold at high prices at this time, but that it cannot be avoided due to the laws of supply and demand. He added that he has asked the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation (BMDC) to source black beans which are relatively cheaper than red beans, to ensure market availability.

He assures Belizeans that there will not be a shortage of beans in Belize this holiday season.

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