Since the Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security Law was passed in Cuba in 2022. Official discourse has emphasized its strategic importance for strengthening local production, diversifying crops, and reducing dependence on imports.
However, when visiting rural communities in the Holguin municipality of Cacocum, the actual implementation of this legislation falls far short of its aspirations.
In theory, the Law promotes a participatory, decentralized agroecological model. In practice, farmers continue to face bureaucratic obstacles. A lack of inputs, and limited access to technologies.
The municipality of Cacocum, predominantly agricultural, should serve as an example of the application of this law. Despite this, discouragement persists, with harvest prices that do not compensate for costs, slow payments, and centralized marketing mechanisms that marginalize producers.
Added to this is a crucial factor: the limited participation of the population in decision-making regarding food production and distribution. How can sovereignty be built without real empowerment?
How can food security be guaranteed when many families in Cacocum still face shortages of basic products or must pay high prices for agricultural products grown just a few kilometers from their homes?
Cooperatives and local productive structures need more than exhortations. They require real financing, effective decentralization, social control over resources, and policies that protect them from inflation and climate uncertainty. The law must be passed from paper to earth and sprout with the same commitment that demands its enforcement.
Food sovereignty is not just about producing more. It is about ensuring that food arrives, that it is affordable, and that it is produced sustainably. In Cacocum, farmers have the land and the desire. What’s lacking is the practical will to ensure this law isn’t another promise that withers in the sun.
By: Roxana Guisado Fernández
Translated by Aliani Rojas Fernandez
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