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Geography, agriculture and economy


Geography

Belize is located on the Caribbean seaboard of Central America. It shares borders with Mexico in the north and Guatemala to the west and south. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Belize has a land area of 23,000 km2 and an estimated population of about 290,000 (2007). The population is growing at an annual rate of 2.2 per cent per year. Presently the rural population is almost 50 per cent of the total and it is growing faster than the urban population.

The country has a multiethnic and multicultural population. The largest ethnic group is made up of Spanish and indigenous descendant Mestizos, who account for almost half of the total population. Other groups include Afro-descendant Creoles, the Garifuna people and Mayas.

The climate is sub-tropical and tropical, with two main seasons, wet and dry. Most of the land is under natural vegetation, mainly broadleaf forest. Almost 36 per cent of the country’s total area is protected in the form of national parks, natural reserves and natural resource conservation areas.

Agriculture

With its excellent climate and natural resources, including fertile land, water and forests, Belize has a good potential for increasing and diversifying agricultural production and for improving competitiveness on domestic and export markets, as well as for reinforcing food security. About 36 per cent of the land area is considered suitable for agriculture and cattle farming. Presently less than 10 per cent of the land is under various forms of agricultural production and fish farming. The main crops are sugar cane, citrus and banana. Livestock production is divided between very large farms and many small-scale farms.

Commercial plantations, medium-scale and large-scale, produce mainly bananas and citrus crops, and some sugar cane. Small-scale farmers in the northern part of the country produce sugar cane and vegetables, In the Cayo district, small farmers cultivate basic grains such as beans and corn, and vegetables. Most farmers in the south, who are mainly Mayas, produce maize, beans and rice, using a slash and burn system.

Small-scale farmers represent about 58 per cent of all agricultural producers. Almost 63 per cent of rural households can be classified as landless. Land tenure includes different forms. More than half of the land is private property. About half of Maya communities live on reservation lands, to which they have only usufruct rights. Low productivity is a characteristic of most smallholdings throughout the country. Although technology is available, small-scale farmers lack the financial resources they need to have access to it. 

Economy

The country is a small open economy, with a total gross domestic product (GDP) of about US$1.2 billion in 2007. In 2007 growth of GDP slowed to about 2.2 per cent, down from 5.6 per cent in 2006 (World Bank). Since 2005, the government’s tighter fiscal policy has reduced debt and led to improved national financial management. The most dynamic economic sectors in recent years have been tourism and related activities, fisheries and agriculture. Between 1995 and 2006 tourism has more than doubled, becoming the country’s second-ranking source of foreign exchange and an important source of employment.

Aggregate foreign trade accounts for almost 80 per cent of GDP. Citrus concentrate and sugar are the country’s most important exports, followed by marine products, such as shrimps, and by bananas.


Source: IFAD