On the road to reducing the deficit in the contributions of agriculture to the household table and obtaining food sovereignty, Cubans are paying attention to a national policy to channel such objectives, an endeavor in which they have the privilege of having as an advisor the Brazilian intellectual Frei Betto.
By Roberto Morejón
On the road to reducing the deficit in the contributions of agriculture to the household table and obtaining food sovereignty, Cubans are paying attention to a national policy to channel such objectives, an endeavor in which they have the privilege of having as an advisor the Brazilian intellectual Frei Betto.
The author of the well-known book "Fidel and Religion" is currently engaged in an intense agenda as an advisor to the Caribbean country and to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The loquacious speaker has visited places like the National Institute for Tropical Viands Research, in the central province of Villa Clara, where he praised the promotion of traditional crops from more valuable seeds and the work to add others with less roots.
The aforementioned Institute is a pillar of Cuba's intention to gain in food sovereignty, since the food import burden is burdensome for Cuba, whose bill forces it to spend more than two billion dollars annually.
Those purchases require the deficit deliveries of native agriculture, affected by the lack of inputs, the U.S. blockade and the exodus to the cities, among other causes.
Cuba outlined the Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Education Plan based on indigenous experiences without discarding FAO recommendations, with a view to strengthening municipal self-sufficiency methods.
Known by its acronym SAN, this procedure is on its way to becoming a law, that is, a norm of constitutional development, after discussion with the grassroots, mainly farmers and members of cooperatives and agricultural enterprises.
Beyond the legal body, the aim is to incorporate as many people as possible to an emancipating idea at the economic level based on local resources, in order to generate nutrients.
It is also praiseworthy to draw attention to better forms of food education to the detriment of inadequate health habits.
With the knowledge of farmers and the advances of science, including biotechnology, the policy towards food sovereignty awakens hopes in a population urgently seeking a more diverse supply at reasonable prices in the markets.
