Sugarcane Farmers Trapped in Costly Credit Cycle

Imagine running a business where every year, you must take out a loan—at a whopping fourteen percent interest—just to keep things going. That’s the reality for many sugarcane farmers in Belize, according to Agriculture Minister Jose Mai. It’s a cycle that’s worked—until something disrupts production and throws everything off balance. On Friday, we sat down with Minister Mai to talk about the financial strain on farmers, and what happens when the system they rely on starts to crack.

 

Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture

“The CRESAR  project will also benefit the farmers. It is a grant program and loan program. DFC is a part of it. La Immaculada is a part of it. But DFC will have to play a very important role. Why, and I said this yesterday, the banks have no interest in helping everybody. The banks are here to make money. So if you have a disease or not, I want fourteen percent interest and that is what I charge. Can you imagine operating your cane fields with loans a fourteen percent interest and every year you go back to borrow on the same fields, it is just killing the industry. What have been discussed is moving of farmers to a bank that is more farmer friendly and interest friendly, because who can survive in this day and age producing food at fourteen percent interest, no one.”