In the village of Valley of Peace, Belize, since 1993 The Valley of Peace Lagoon Farmers’ Cooperative Society Ltd, mainly formed of small producers of vegetables. Initially, 30 members focused only on the cultivation of cabbage having an approximate of 136,077 kg annually sold to the local market. In 2016, the group has remained strong since its formation and apart from only cultivating cabbage, members started to get involved in other vegetables such as Sweet pepper, tomato, and lettuce meeting the consumers demand.
Valley of Peace Lagoon Farmers’ Cooperative Society Ltd Is one of the main producers of vegetables and at this time one of the main buyers is the Belize Marketing Development Corporation, Belize market and Belmopan market. In addition, the cooperative provides beneficial services to its members (access to loans, technical support, credits). Also, the members are constantly introducing new productive practices, being more environmentally friendly and at the same time meeting their objective of delivering healthy produce to consumers.
- The excellent internal relationship between the members who are continually willing to improve the co-operative.
- The creation of synergies with other institutions focused on improving rural development.
- The good characteristics of the leader have led the group to the position it is in now.
