Day 2: Ag, People, and the Environment: Welcome to Belize (Gillian)

Welcome to Belize!

What a great view
to start the day!

I am so excited to be posting for the first time in Belize! The sun, blue sky, and warm weather has definitely been a welcome break from winter for me and I'm looking forward to more sunny adventures this week.

Today was a great day to recover from the long trip yesterday, explore San Ignacio, and start our in-country learning to set us up for success later this week. We had two discussions today, focusing on agriculture in Belize and the education system in Belize. Andrew Harrison, the Chief Ag Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture came to talk to us and left me with some great information to draw connections to what we are learning about in Belize, what I have learned about in classes, and what I hope to explore further in my career.

In the discussion, we looked at agricultural extension in rural development and considered the many key factors, including per capital income, poverty, land tenure, food security, level of technology, and organization. After taking Community, Environment, and Development classes last semester, I thought it was especially interesting when Mr. Harrison mentioned the meaning of true development: when all members of a society have equal access to essential and basic needs, education, recreation, food, health care, and more.

I think this is a very important idea to consider in agricultural extension in rural and developing areas. With the development of new technologies and education, those ideas need to be extended to people in different areas to offer the same opportunities and access. This can present a challenge in rural areas due to the lack of access to technology, a barrier we see in the United States as well.

Considering the relationship between ag extension and rural development and the definition of true development, I find the connection between people and the natural world and agriculture fascinating. Ag extension can help rural areas develop through new technology and education while rural areas help ag extension grow by challenging the process in order to find ways to give equal access to everyone.

We discussed another connection between the environment and people in climate change. Climate change is also pushing for new technologies to better prepare for farmers for even more extreme weather and disasters. While the farmers have been adapting and coping with the changes, the dry and wet seasons already present difficulties through long and intense droughts or rainfall that drowns crops. As climate change continues to present new challenges, efforts through the Ministry of Ag will continue to create climate change awareness and bring new technologies to Belize as other places around the world work to adjust as well.

Cooling off from the
afternoon heat together?

I love learning about connections between humans and the natural world. I believe human/environment and human/animal interactions are important, especially moving forward in development in a world that we're finding new ways to live in. I am thrilled that we were able to discuss some of these connections today and even see some in action as I passed by horses tied in yards, stray dogs sun bathing through the warm day, and a man and a horse swimming together in the Macal River.

I'm curious to continue to make connections between human/environment and human/animal interactions between Belize and the United States as well as the role of agricultural extension in rural development. Ag, people, and the environment all have a direct influence on each other and I am looking forward to exploring those connections even more to best benefit all systems involved.

Gillian Warner is a freshmen majoring in an interdisciplinary major in the College of Agricultural Sciences.