Orange Walk District

Orange Walk District operates as Belize's agricultural powerhouse—nicknamed 'Sugar City' for the cane that defined its economy for generations. The Tower Hill Sugar Factory (Belize Sugar Industries) processes the nation's entire sugar cane output from this 1,829 square mile territory. The poverty rate of 24.9% is second-lowest in the country, proving that agricultural economies can outperform coastal tourism in generating broadly shared prosperity.

This is niche construction through monoculture: Orange Walk succeeded by specializing rather than diversifying. Sugar, dairy, citrus, beef, and rum production cluster here because the infrastructure for processing these commodities developed here. Cuello Refinery and Caribbean Refinery turn local cane into rum; the dairy industry serves domestic markets; citrus adds crop diversity without requiring entirely new infrastructure. The district is slowly transitioning toward alternatives like potatoes, but the sugar base remains.

The economic logic is circular: sugar created processing facilities; facilities attracted more sugar cultivation; cultivation concentrated agricultural expertise. This path dependence made Orange Walk prosperous but also vulnerable—disease or price shocks in sugar reverberate through the entire district economy. The 2024 primary sector decline of 5.5% hit hardest here where primary production matters most. Orange Walk's success and Orange Walk's risk stem from the same specialization.