A History Of The Citrus Industry In Belize

April 7, 2022
by roshesgodfrey@gmail.com +

Though the huge volume of resorts and spas catered towards tourists might suggest otherwise, the biggest industry in the Caribbean-facing Central American country of Belize is actually agriculture — and citrus sits alongside bananas and sugar as two of the largest exports within the agricultural sector. But it wasn’t always this way. The citrus industry has had some sizable spikes and valleys over the year, but it remains closely ingrained with the very character of Belize. Here’s its history.

Citrus Farming in Central America and the Caribbean

Citrus appears to have first appeared in Asia thousands of years ago before finally finding its way by trade routes to the Mediterranean and eventually the rest of the western world. As a result, this type of fruit didn’t arrive in Central America and the Caribbean until the arrival of European colonists — but they arrived eagerly carrying citrus. The fact that citrus helped prevent scurvy — a disease common among sailors of the time — might have had a part to play in that, but Christopher Columbus would plant the first orange seed in Haiti in 1493.

The Early Days of Belize Citrus

The humble orange had managed to find its way to practically every corner of the globe by the 16th century, but the idea of a sustainable citrus industry — especially one operating at an international scale — wouldn’t become a reality until the 19th and 20th centuries. Contemporary accounts as old as 1859 reference personal orange groves on the private estates of Belizean landowners, but practical and political considerations meant a thriving agricultural sector had yet to form in Belize. First, there was the fact that it didn’t officially become a British colony until 1865, and the second was the lucrative nature of the mahogany and lumber industries. While logging was contingent on the labor of enslaved just the same as on New World agricultural plantations, the differing demands of the work meant that operations were functionally different.

Stann Creek Plantations

Things were beginning to change by the middle of the 19th century. Belize — then known as the crown colony of British Honduras — had abolished slavery, and demand for both lumber and mahogany was beginning to wane. But despite the abolition of slavery, the majority of the land was still held by a small group of white landowners. In fact, the arrival of former American confederates looking to continue their way of life in Central America only increased the stranglehold white landowners had over the rest of the population. In an attempt to keep the old ways afloat, these landowners tried their hands at a number of different agricultural practices, and they relied on indentured servants from India and China until those practices were abolished as well. But in the southern territory of Stann Creek, a conglomerate of banana farmers proved that agriculture could be lucrative in the country. First established near the end of the 19th century, it also coincided with the birth of the first international fruit companies.

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Citrus arrived as a cash crop in 1913 thanks to Dr. Smith Osborne Browne, the colonial doctor at Stann Creek. Britain had been the first country to begin growing citrus commercially — at their colony in Florida — and the formerly backwater town of Stann Creek had seen major infrastructural development to support the booming banana industry. With the eventual help of a partner, Osborne began to ship grapefruit to Stann Creek and began the process of developing his own orchards. Ironically, American interest in protecting the lucrative Floridian citrus industry that Britain had started meant that exporting to the United States was difficult. But the business steadily began to grow and to find customers throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Along with assistance from the government, other farmers began to convert their land to citrus. A major disease outbreak that ravaged the banana farms helped spur the growth of citrus in the region.

The Era of the British Honduras Citrus Association

As an industry operating in a British colony, the handling of international trade for citrus was overseen by a British marketing agency. This ended in 1934, but local farmers saw it as an opportunity to take control of their own labor. They formed the British Honduras Citrus Association, leading to rapid growth in the industry. Thanks to the expanding connections of local farmers and an increasingly vocal demand for better civil rights, the groves of Stann Creek only expanded, and operations turned to squeezing and canning juice instead of just dealing in the raw fruit. Though World War II would briefly pause operations, the industry would only continue to grow — but it would also continue to consolidate. By 1960, nearly 80% of all citrus groves belonged to just three entities.

Expanding Citrus Trade in the 1980s

Belize gained independence in 1981, but they continued to face challenges. Independence had taken so long initially because of the continuing colonial interests from Great Britain and territorial antagonism from Belize’s independent neighbor Guatemala. Meanwhile, proprietary U.S. interests and competition had kept Belize’s industry from finding deep in-roads into the American market. That changed with the implementation of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). As an American policy that adjusted tariffs and taxes in an attempt to create economic parity and stability in Central America, it was an imperfect solution. But for Belize’s citrus industry, it was a boon. CBI gave Belize orange and grapefruit farmers the ability to undercut the competition, and that allowed the industry to hit heights like it never had before. While there have been ups and downs, citrus remains one of the most prominent crops produced in the country. And it will likely stay that way for a long time to come.