FAO Acknowledges Cuban Food Sovereignty Policy

Havana, March 29 (ACN) Cuba’s state policy is in tune with continental strategies to foster food production, said the representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization –FAO—in Cuba Marcelo Resende in Havana during a press conference on Tuesday.

Resende referred to the difficult scenario facing the world food system, hard hit by the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the actions undertaken in Cuba towards food sovereignty. Cuba is witnessing a decentralization of agricultural policies evidenced by the goal to lower the dependence on imports, provide territories with more autonomy in their decision-taking process and ease the tax burden on producers, said the FAO representative.

Such transformations will allow for better use of available resources, larger access to supplies, equipment and machinery, and performance diversification to gradually meet the needs of the sector.

Referring to the island’s Plan of Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Education and the draft bill on Food and Nutritional Security and Sovereignty, the FAO representative said that food production along economic recovery is instrumental for the work of the country’s leadership.

FAO provides technical advice to authorities pursuing those aims and keeps joint projects aimed at fighting soil salinization, drought, and the rescue of over 35 thousand hectares of cultivable lands, he noted.

He also stressed the political commitment deployed by the President of the Republic in supervising the food issue, facing climate change and honoring the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development.