Farmers in Maskall area receive training in Climate Smart Agriculture

Photo Credit: MAFSE

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: Farmers in the Maskall area of the Belize District on Thursday received training in Climate Smart Agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security, and Enterprise (MAFSE) said in a statement on social media that Extension Officer Alberto Rene Gutierrez conducted a one-day training workshop on Climate Smart Agriculture to 16 farmers as part of the Belize Resilient School Feeding Program (BRSFP).

The training is a follow up of the BRSFP which falls under the Mexico-Caricom-FAO Initiative: Cooperation for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience in the Caribbean. Under this project farmers who supply schools with produce are trained in methods of increasing productivity, enhancing resilience to climate change, and reducing emissions.

On Thursday at the San Joaquin RC Primary School in the Corozal District, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) symbolically handed over the project to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, which in turn transferred it to the Ministry of Education, who then passed it on to participating schools.

“The schools get garden equipment and materials, and training, while they also buy from local producers who also get training,” MAFSE said.

“This is the training component of the project being offered for the Belize District, which has participating schools in Lucky Strike and Biscayne villages. Some 800 students will be benefitting from this project as it includes creating healthy meals from locally grown produce, lessons in school gardening, and guidance in the form of manuals and menus specially prepared for schools to ensure proper nutrition and healthy eating is practiced in schools.”

MAFSE said similar training will be offered in the other districts as well.

According to MAFSE, school feeding programmes in the Caribbean, as elsewhere, have long been established and recognized as an important instrument in facilitating learning, especially for poor and vulnerable school children.