Project Name：Aquaculture Project (Belize)

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Central America, Belize

Project Description：This five-year project will provide assistance to the Belizean Ministry of Nature Resources and Agriculture in three stages. The first stage will involve assembling a team of experts to design, plan and oversee the construction of a tilapia hatchery center, while professional consultants will also be dispatched to build the capacity of local personnel. The second stage will involve introducing Taiwan’s tilapia farming skills and experience, providing Belizean fish farmers with a stable supply of high-quality, single-sex fry, as well as assisting cooperating units to conduct research into the development of alternative feeds, thereby reducing farmers’ costs. The third stage will involve assistance to establish tilapia marketing mechanisms, prompting the overall goal of facilitating the development of a small- to medium-scale tilapia farming industry within Belize.

Project No：TCD-2010-B07-005

Implementation Start Date：2012-02-13

Implementation End Date：2017-02-12

Project Objectives：The objectives of this project are:

1. Construct a tilapia hatchery center, with the capacity to produce a maximum of 1 million tilapia fingerlings annually, at the Central Farm site.
2. Provide five tilapia farming training workshops for the benefit of 540 participants.
3. Increase annual production of tilapia from 110,000 to 1 million units by the end of the five-year project period by producing high-quality tilapia fingerlings and assisting the development of on-growing, small-scale tilapia farming operations.
4. Assist tilapia production and the formation and organization of a tilapia farmers marketing cooperative; establish a processing center to facilitate processing, packing and marketing operations related to tilapia farming.
5. Increase national consumption of tilapia fivefold by the end of the five-year project period.
6. Reduce the wholesale price of tilapia fingerlings from US$0.075 to US$0.06 by the end of the five-year project period.
7. Assign a TaiwanICDF aquaculture specialist to assist the MNRA to develop alternative feeds for tilapia culture in order to substitute commercial feeds by as much as 30-35 percent throughout the five-year project period.
8. Publish three booklets on various aspects of aquaculture, and a brochure on tilapia production for public distribution.
   

Executing Agency：

1. Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Belize
2. Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture (MNRA) (Belize)
3. TaiwanICDF
   

Current Progress：

Project Performance：

1. Sales of approximately 1 million tilapia fingerlings to small-scale farmers raise tilapia production in the domestic market to at least 375,000 lbs.
2. Sales of approximately 1 million tilapia fingerlings to small-scale farmers  raise the value of tilapia production in the domestic market to at least US$750,000.
3. The wholesale price of tilapia fingerlings sold to tilapia farmers  be reduced by at least 20 percent.
4. Assisting the MNRA to develop alternative feeds for tilapia culture  allow the ministry to substitute commercial feeds by as much as 30-35 percent throughout the five-year project period.
5. The project will facilitate the sustainable development of the small-scale tilapia farming industry within Belize’s agricultural sector.
6. Improvements to regional tilapia production will supplement the dietary intake of protein among families in rural areas.

Signing Date：2012-02-13

Projected Benefits：

Cooperating Stakeholders：Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture (MNRA) (Belize)