New Sheep Barn Inaugurated at Central Farm in Cayo District

A newly built sheep barn was inaugurated today in Central Farm, Cayo District. The barn was donated by the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) as part of the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF). The barn will be used to breed and house high-quality goats and sheep that will produce better-quality meat that farmers can sell. According to the Minister of Agriculture, Jose Abelardo Mai, the newly constructed building is valued at four hundred and twenty-five thousand Belize dollars.

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture: “This where we’re standing is the first phase of the project. This is a barn that is used for breeding sheep and goats for genetic improvement but we saw the need for an expansion, the demand for good breeds is high and so we contacted our friends from the ROC and they provided now with an extension to this project so the portion we just inaugurated is an extension to this project. It was constructed at the tune of $425,000 Belize dollars. So what this will do is it will house the breeding stock of sheep and goat. We will then be able to have more animals and that we will then be able to offer to the farmers more good genetic quality animals.” 

Taiwanese Ambassador, Kuan Chou-Chien, says that the new barn increases the capacity to accommodate between four hundred to six hundred and fifty sheep. He adds that the building was designed to be a climate-friendly facility. 

David Kuan-Chou Chien, Ambassador of Taiwan to Belize: “The main goal of the sheep and goat project is to assist our sheep and goat farmers and also promote consumption of lamb and mutton in Belize and the newly completed barn is one of the very important milestones in the agricultural bilateral partnership between Taiwan and Belize and also we made the newly completed barn a green facility.”