Italian Cooperation Agency project boosts coffee growing in eastern Cuba

Mas Café (More Coffee) is a project implemented by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) that seeks the revival of coffee growing in areas of eastern Cuba and the improvement of productivity and quality of Arabica coffee.

Antonio Festa, director of the AICS in Havana, commented that the initiative is present in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Guantanamo and Granma to increase the knowledge and technical skills of the actors involved in the coffee chain.

All this, he added, is aimed at increasing production and improving the standard of living of producers -including women- in rural mountain communities.

Mas Cafe has a trajectory of more than 10 years, whose third stage began in May 2024, and is also aimed at the management of medicinal plants due to their productive relevance for coffee-growing families in their local agri-food system.

According to the Agency's director, the project has achieved triangular cooperation in this agricultural sector with the implementation of training and research activities to increase professional opportunities in the sector.

The proposal, he said, has led to the training of 2,088 polytechnic students, 33 tasters, 5,703 producers and 610 women in grafting techniques.

The AICS project, which is being developed largely thanks to international cooperation, also has the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Business Group Agroforestry, the Institute of Agroforestry Research in support of the agroforestry and coffee sector in the eastern part of the country. (Source: ACN)