FAO increases support for Cuba in its agricultural and food strategy

Rome (Prensa Latina) During the IV World Food Forum in Rome, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel thanked the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for its support to his country.

By Oscar Redondo

Chief correspondent in Italy

At that event, which began on Monday and will conclude next Friday, the Cuban leader sent a message to present the Caribbean nation’s efforts to achieve sustainable agricultural development and food security, while highlighting the importance of FAO’s support to meet those objectives.

During a visit to Italy in July 2023, Díaz-Canel spoke with FAO Director General Qu Dongyu, who asserted that Cuba has great potential to develop its agri-food systems, as it has the permanent help of that international organization.

In September of that year, both leaders met again, this time in Havana, during the Summit of the Group of 77 and China, an occasion in which the Cuban president reiterated his gratitude to the FAO for everything it does for his country.

Both addressed at that meeting the effects of the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, on which Qu valued that food is a human right, which cannot be violated by causing hunger.

The current FAO World Food Forum, with the participation of leaders, world experts and investors, has as its central theme Good Food for All, Today and Tomorrow, which reflects the mission of creating paths to face a critical global situation, with 733 million people suffering from hunger.

Hence, its sessions focus on youth, science and innovation, as well as on the promotion of specific investments, as key elements for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2, to create a world without hunger by 2030, a very complicated goal.

The meeting is attended by a Cuban delegation headed by the Vice Prime Minister, Jorge Luis Tapia, and also made up of the ambassador to Italy, Mirta Granda, and directors of the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Trade and other officials of the diplomatic mission of the Caribbean country.

The Vice Prime Minister informed Prensa Latina of his meeting with the Director General of the FAO, who reaffirmed the willingness to continue supporting the Cuban State with initiatives aimed at increasing financing, the training of specialists and the promotion of investments.

Tapia highlighted that in his virtual intervention at the event, Díaz-Canel regretted that “we live in an era marked by inequality and injustice in economic relations, which are most cruelly expressed in the painful food shortages suffered by the great majorities excluded from progress in this vital area.

In the Cuban case, the ravages left across the planet by the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic and the dramatic effects of climate change on agricultural and food production are compounded by the profound damage caused by the US blockade, he stressed.

The president stressed the importance for Cuba of the FAO initiative called Hand in Hand, which offers a space for foreign investment, in the search for alliances “that boost our productive capacities to face current challenges.

There are many experts who recognize the existence of a favorable climate for foreign direct investment in our country, especially in the agricultural sector, he said.

As a premise, there are several strengths: first, the strategic location, which facilitates access to important markets in Latin America and the Caribbean,” he stressed, as well as “the availability of human resources by having a highly trained population to act in various productive sectors.”

He also referred to investment in research and development, as a growing area, with opportunities for technological innovations that can boost agricultural production.

“Cuba also has industrial, productive, hydraulic and electrical infrastructures that are in the process of being strengthened, and regional and local soil and climate studies ensure that investors have a favorable environment to maximize their projects,” he added.

He said that the priority chains include increases in rice cultivation, grains such as beans and corn, improvements in the sugar sector and the promotion of fruit trees, among other areas to diversify the economy, increase food production and promote sustainable agro-industrial development.

Finally, he stressed that, by strengthening investments, the aim is to satisfy internal demand, but also to improve export capacities, in line with the needs of the region.

arc/ort