Cuban President Calls for Food Production Increase

Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, First Secretary of Cuba’s Communist Party insisted in the need to increase food production at all municipalities, during a meeting in the western province of Artemisa.

Checking the commitments adopted during his latest visit to the territory in January, the head of state stressed the role to be played by local governments in leading the policies related to food sovereignty and nutritional education.

Every municipality must have an agricultural company under local government jurisdiction which must guarantee, along other production companies, the food supply of the municipality, which is a crucial step towards the setting up of local production systems, he noted.

Such companies must efficiently produce food and not only provide services, the head of state noted and went on to admit that Cuban economy adopted some aspects related to dollarization in an effort to get hard currency, but food for the people—including milk and meat—must be sold in national currency.

Diaz-Canel also stressed the urgency to create jobs to raise production levels at agricultural companies and link the labor wing of the Cuban army (made up of young soldiers in their military service in charge of food production) to the production plans of the municipalities, pay standing debts to farmers and recover the production of rice in small plots.

Artemisa province governor Ricardo Concepcion explained the working system adopted in the territory to meet the accords adopted in January, but he said they will not be able to neither meet the accorded production of meat and sugar nor the scheduled arrival of foreign tourists.
However, he mentioned and advancement in the production of corn, beans, fruits, and vegetables and the collection of eggs.

Communist Party Organization Secretary Roberto Morales stressed that among the priorities of the political organization in Artemisa the attention to the communist youths is crucial, as well as addressing the solution of problems.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero addressed the need to pay attention not only to what has not been met but also to the quality and impact of those actions already undertaken in the territory.