In a press release, the representation of the UN agency in Havana explained that the initiative, launched in 2021, contributed to building capacity to strengthen the country’s undertaking in municipal self-supply, urban, suburban and family agriculture.
To this end, two key areas were defined to achieve a greater impact on food production during the post-pandemic recovery stage, one linked to local seed production and the other to agro-ecological pest management, the source added.
Last week, FAO and the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG) held the closing technical on ‘Support in the response to Covid-19 to maintain the functioning of food systems,’ according to the report.
The meeting was attended by executives, officials and researchers from the MINAG, the Ministry of Public Health, the Plant Health Research Institute (INISAV), the National Center for Agricultural Health, the Institute of Meteorology, as well as risk and disaster reduction experts from the FAO office for Mesoamerica.
In addition to technical collaboration, the agency provided 26 modules of agricultural tools for organoponic gardens, yards and plots in Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Havana, MINAG expert Lianne Ortiz said at the event.
The director of the Plant Health Research Institute, Marlene Veitía, in turn, valued the sharing of knowledge on agroecological pest management in the three Cuban regions with FAO assistance.
She highlighted the delivery of equipment (autoclave, microscope, pH meter, balance and others) to the department of production technologies for biological control agents of INISAV and the seed laboratory of the ‘Alejandro de Humboldt’ Institute for Fundamental Research in Tropical Agriculture.
FAO also provided technical assistance to small producers to counter Covid-19 and extreme hydrometeorological events, the press release added.
During the workshop, the Cuban Center for Agricultural Health presented the main achievements in the implementation of the ‘One Health’ approach in the food production sector, based on the principles promoted by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO).
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