Stephen Williams is currently Technical Specialist at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) - Belize Delegation.  He has a PhD, in Agricultural Microbiology, from the University of Kent at Canterbury in the UK, on the use of mycorrhizal fungi in commercial agriculture systems.   His current focus, at IICA, is the formulation of agricultural development projects for Belize and the region. These include the control of Newcastle disease in back-yard poultry, a national honey and beekeeping strategy symposium, and a project to improve farmer resilience through the use of climate smart agriculture practices. 

Stephen has worked in Belize's agriculture sector for over 20 years, initially as research agronomist, at the Citrus Research & Education Institute, and from 2000, as director of research and extension at the same institution.  He oversaw projects to strengthen the nursery certification program, control Mexican fruit fly, develop laboratory capacity to diagnose for citrus diseases, survey for diseases around the industry and strengthen the farmer extension program.   Through the Netherlands' based International Centre for development oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA) and the Indian Grassland, and Fodder Research Institute he is trained in participatory approaches to agricultural research.   

From 2011 to 2017, Stephen managed the University of Belize's micro-propagation laboratory, which produced sugarcane microplants for quality-cane nurseries and developed propagation protocols to produce field-planting material for native orchids, pineapples and bananas.  He has served on the Board of the Directors for Belize's Pesticide Control Board and Belize Agricultural Health Authority and has secured project funds, from a range of international donors, to support the work of the institutions for which he had worked.