FAO recognizes Cuba’s interest in food – Prensa Latina

On the occasion of World Food Day, the mission of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the Caribbean country called on people to take this date as an opportunity to join actions for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life.

The head of that agency in the country, Marcelo Resende, emphasized that, like the rest of the world, the largest of the Antilles is going through complicated times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent impact on food value chains, despite this leading the process of change in the agri-food sector.

Cuba has a large number of policies in place to ensure food security for the population, among them the Plan and the Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security Act (SSAN), one of its biggest challenges, as an important step in complying with the Food Security Act. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The plan, approved by the Council of Ministers on July 22 last year, aims to reduce dependence on food imports and supplies, eliminate waste and waste, strengthen local food systems, and mobilize educational strategies to enhance training in these topics.

For its part, the SSAN Act will strengthen the right to healthy and adequate food for the Cuban population, recognized in Articles 77 and 78 of the Constitution of the Republic, as evidence of the State’s political will to strengthen and activate this attribution. .

These actions are in line with the efforts of the Food and Agriculture Organization at the global level to accompany countries in the transformation of their agri-food systems, and is committed to promoting decentralization, management and local development, as well as bringing agriculture closer to knowledge, science, technology and innovation.

In cooperation with the European Union, programs and green funds for climate and the global environment, FAO is working in Cuba with multiple partners, and in 2021 added $52 million for these purposes.

This amount will be used to introduce new agroforestry units in 35 thousand hectares of land conquered by the merapau, which will increase the productivity and sustainability of agro-ecosystems.

rgh / crc