WFP and IFAD open project in eastern Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 15 (ACN) Representatives of the World Food Program (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) launched today the project "Gibara green x percent", to contribute to increase efficiency, resilience and sustainability capacity in this territory of the eastern province of Holguin.

Under the slogan "Local food, innovation and resilience", this initiative will be implemented until December 2023 to favor the nutritional approach of food systems through local solutions, in the face of negative climatic and economic impacts.

Etienne Labande, representative of the World Food Program in Cuba, said that this is the first joint intervention of IFAD and WFP in coordination with the Cuban government.

Its components are aimed at strengthening the capacities of the local food system to supply food to the Social Safety Nets, and promote healthy, nutritious and safe food for local actors, he said.

The People's Republic of China offered a contribution of more than 481,000 US dollars for the materialization of this project.

In this regard, Zhou Quan, economic and commercial counselor of the Embassy of that Asian nation to Cuba, said that this is the first time that the largest of the Antilles has had access to the China-IFAD South-South and Triangular Cooperation Mechanism.

Juan Diego Ruiz, head of IFAD's Sub-Regional Office, explained that IFAD's program in Cuba includes three projects in different phases, with an investment portfolio of over US 160 million, involving 42,000 food-producing families, to contribute to the country's nutritional security.

Among the innovative solutions to be implemented in Gibara is the model of local food supply to key institutions such as schools, children's circles and the Family Care System.