The Genetic Improvement in Sheep and Goat Project, which is a cooperation project between the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) and the Government of Belize, was completed in December 2019. The project succeeded in increasing the amount of high quality breeding sheep by 12.6 times. The Government of Belize and Belizean farmers utilized the high quality breeding sheep which were imported from the U.S. and promoted the sheep industry under the Genetic Improvement in Sheep and Goat Project (Phase I Project). A cooperation agreement related to the Breeding Sheep and Goat Production and Guidance System Enhancement Project (Phase II Project) between the Government of Belize and the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) was signed by Senator Godwin Hulse, Minister of Food and Agriculture, and Immigration, and Mr. Remus Li-Kuo Chen, Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize, on March 25, 2020.

The main structure of the Phase I Project referenced Taiwan’s sheep breeding experience and team members developed a sheep breeding strategy suitable for the local environment. By following international breed importing standards, three kinds of pure breed and pure semen including Doper, Blackbelly and Katahdin were imported to the National Sheep and Goat Breeding Center at Central Farm (the Center). This allowed the Center to apply artificial insemination technology to expand gene diversity and strengthen sheep production. Additionally, the Taiwan Technical Mission in Belize (TTM) also established the Center’s capacities including high-level sheep shed, pasture and forage, circular economy and friendly animal husbandry. TTM also held various training workshops for technicians and farmers to introduce new feeding management concepts and techniques to enhance the development of the Belize sheep industry.

In the coming four years, TaiwanICDF and the Government of Belize will cooperate and implement the Phase II Project including: (1) breeding the sheep, which is suitable for small- and mid-barns, (2) increasing the efficiency of breeding and producing sheep, and (3) establishing the concept of meat cutting and meat grading. The sheep farmers could increase profit with the advanced breeding strategy and value-added concept. The increase in sales margins may lead more farmers to join the sheep industry or expand their ranch scale. It is anticipated that the Belizean sheep industry enhanced by these two projects can become one of the driving forces of Belize’s economic growth.

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• Update: 2020/05/20
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