Support Belize's Cacao Producers in Wildfire Crisis

Belize is currently in the midst of a massive wildfire emergency. Fires have been burning in the country over the last two weeks, and in the southern half of the country they are encroaching further and further upon rural cacao growing villages. We have already heard that at least 15 producers have entirely lost their farms to fire, and with the fires continuing to reach new areas this number will certainly grow.

There is very little national or government support for fighting the fires, so residents have taken it upon themselves to fight the fires as best as they can. The Maya Mountain staff have been joining the firefighting efforts on a regular basis. The air quality is terrible, there are limited sealed indoor places for recovery, and the situation is dire.

Some MMC staff have been personally impacted already, either by losing their farms, or a family member losing theirs. Cacao farming in southern Belize is a core element to family livelihoods, and there is no doubt that the impact of these fires will be devastating for many families. While it is possible some of the farms will recover, rain is not expected in the region until mid June, so the stress on the plants will be enormous. In addition to the loss of cacao farms, families are losing their other crops like corn which are critical for food security.

Maya Mountain's team is extremely busy in managing this very active crisis right now while continuing to buy, process, and export cacao, but once the fires have ended there will be a lot of help needed across the MMC producer network. We are starting this fundraiser for the craft chocolate community to donate to these efforts, which will be transparently and accountably communicated out through updates in this GoFundMe and on social media.

Please contact Emily with any questions, etc.

Thank you for any support that you are able to provide to support the families who will be dramatically impacted by this wildfire crisis. We will keep you posted as we learn more about this evolving emergency.

Sincerely,

Emily, Benjamin, Diane, and the Uncommon and Maya Mountain teams