New York, September 25, 2018. The effects of the US blockade registered by the Cuban sectors of the Food Industry and Agriculture, between April 2017 and March 2018, amount to 413,793,100 dollars, which meant an increase of 66,195,100 dollars with respect to previous periods.
If the Livestock Business Group of Cuba could have access to US technologies for pig farming, meat production in the country would increase by 2,050 tons, while the lost income would have facilitated reinvestment and the creation of a solid infrastructure in the food sector, especially taking into account the difficulties of the main sectors of the Cuban economy to have access to external financing due to the policy of the blockade.
The Cuban government has had to make great efforts to achieve the results attained in terms of food security, which have been recognized by specialized agencies of the United Nations System, such as UNICEF, which in a recently published report considered Cuba the only country in Latin America and the Caribbean that is free of severe child malnutrition.
In order to preserve these achievements, despite the limitations imposed by the blockade, one of the guiding principles of Cuba's National Social and Economic Development Plan until the year 2030 is to achieve levels of agricultural production and marketing that guarantee a high degree of food self-sufficiency.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations