The Climate Resilient and Sustainable Agriculture Project
The Government of Belize (GOB) entered into a loan agreement, dated June 2022, with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) of the World Bank, for a loan to implement the Climate Resilient and Sustainable Agriculture Project (CRESAP).
This project aims to increase agricultural productivity and the adoption of climate-smart agricultural approaches among project beneficiaries and respond effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency event. CRESAP is a five (5) year Project (2022- 2027). The Project will help farmers employ climate resilient agricultural practices and technologies; integrate profitable smallholder participation into the development of select crop and livestock products included but not limited to (maize, onions, sweet peppers, beef cattle, sugarcane) and will provide support to agricultural producers, with a particular emphasis on individual smallholder farmers who are transitioning to more commercial production, while supporting more established commercial farmers and farmer associations that wish to adopt climate-smart practices to improve the sustainability of their enterprises. In addition, the Project will strengthen the capacity of selected agricultural institutions to assist farmers in adopting Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) approach.
The main component includes the participation of financial institutions (PFIs) engaging in climate-smart agricultural investments under the Project to be able to take advantage for the provision of financing to farmers through a Matching Grant Program (matching grants from CRESAP, loans from PFIs, beneficiary contributions) to adopt CSA technologies and practices, and increasing their productivity, levels of income, and resiliency to climate change and weather events. It will also provide selected strategic collective infrastructural assets to strengthen resilience that will contribute to enhancing the climate-smart impacts of on-farm CSA investments. The Project will be operating in the four (4) northern districts, particularly, Corozal, Orange Walk, Belize and Cayo targeting small, medium, large farmers, and producer organizations who are involved in commercial production of the following sub-sectors sugarcane, citrus, grains, legumes, root crops, vegetables, livestock, fruit trees, and aquaculture. It will also target
banana and citrus producers nationally.
