Cuba presented today its National Plan for Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Education at the 37th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Quito.
The Cuban proposal was presented by the Minister of Agriculture Ydael Pérez, who heads the delegation of that Caribbean nation at the event of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which brings together representatives of 33 countries in the area. .
In his speech, the minister explained that the program was one of the actions designed for the agricultural sector in a context in which the archipelago was facing an economic crisis due to factors such as the unprecedented intensification of the economic, financial and commercial blockade of the United States. United against Cuba, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Likewise, he pointed out that the content of the Plan and the 63 measures arranged to stimulate agricultural production are grouped into seven lines, among them: structure of the system, financing and investment, productive programs, agricultural cooperatives, as well as completion and efficient management of the agricultural force. work and management training.
This strategy is completed by science, innovation and computerization and the development of agricultural communities.
Before concluding his presentation, Pérez thanked the organizers of the event for their preparation and stressed that despite the difficulties: “Cuba ratifies its commitment and willingness to cooperate and share, accompanied by the FAO, its modest practices with our countries in the region and especially to the brothers of the Caribbean».
He emphasized in his conclusions that cooperation and solidarity should be the watchwords in current times.
In subsequent statements to Prensa Latina, the minister specified that the Plan is the result of the political will of the government and the Communist Party of Cuba, to work for food sovereignty and security and at the same time in nutritional education, in the midst of the current difficult conditions. , exacerbated by the US siege.
“The spirit of the regulations is to massify food production. The world is going through difficult situations with agricultural inputs and especially with fertilizers, so yields will be lower and then we need to have more production areas », he assured.
In addition to Ydael Pérez, the Cuban delegation includes Orlando Díaz, Director of International Relations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Carlos Fidel Martín, Director of International Economic Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, the Cuban ambassador in Ecuador, Basilio Gutiérrez, and the Commercial Economic Attaché, Juan Parra.
