Addis Ababa, July 28, 2025.- (Prensa Latina) Cuba’s Deputy Prime Minister, Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca, reaffirmed at the UN Food Systems Summit Cuba’s commitment to placing food systems at the center of development agendas to combat hunger, poverty, and inequality.
Speaking at the opening session of the Second Stocktaking Moment of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS+4), Tapia Fonseca emphasized that achieving these goals (especially for countries of the Global South) requires joint and solidary mobilization from all.
He called for the promotion of cooperation mechanisms in the agricultural sector to create platforms for food chains with a social protection approach, highlighting the role of youth, women, and rural communities.
He also urged greater collaboration among countries, prioritizing the exchange of experiences in food security, sovereignty, and self-sufficiency; nutrition and health; science and innovation; agroecology; agricultural extension services; and the proper management of food loss and waste, among others.
“None of this will be possible as long as the current unjust international order prevails—where trillions of dollars are allocated annually to military spending and many of us are victims of unilateral coercive measures that hinder our development aspirations,” the Cuban representative stated.
Along those lines, he denounced that this international order is unable to prevent the people of Palestine, victims of genocide by Israel, from facing a severe food crisis in Gaza, where hundreds are dying from malnutrition and hunger, including children and the elderly.
Despite the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. government, Cuba, he stressed, does not give up on seeking creative solutions to move forward and counteract the impact of that unilateral measure.
He highlighted Cuba’s 2022 Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Security Law, which facilitates the joint action of all national and local institutions and structures involved in food production, primarily supported by agroecological development and its proven environmental protection benefits.
“The resources to eradicate hunger and transform food systems are available; what is needed is political will and commitment to use them for the benefit of the people,” the Cuban Deputy Prime Minister affirmed.
In that regard, he added that South-South cooperation has shown that, with solidarity and determination, it is possible to promote food security.
He concluded by expressing his gratitude to the United Nations and the governments of Ethiopia and Italy for organizing the UNFSS+4, as well as for the hospitality extended to the Cuban delegation.