Havana, Cuba.- Hunger is not a problem in Cuba, but a permanent occupation on the government and parliamentary agenda, FAO representative Marcelo Resende said on Monday.

The message, published in local media, highlighted that the country is strengthening its food security and moving towards sovereignty on these issues; which is why, it has been celebrating the World Food Day (WFD) since late August with many reasons to celebrate.

On the occasion of WFD, the official pointed out that in a world where 821 million people are hungry, the Municipal Self-Supply Plan (PAM), developed by the Cuban government with FAO support is a good example and an innovative reality in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This Plan ‘promotes local food and nutritional security arrangements insofar as agricultural production links a goal of 30 pounds per person per month to a balanced need for a healthy diet. It also encourages greater productive support to ensure access to that quality diet,’ Resende said.

Through the Life Task, the monitoring and resilience to mitigate the effects of variability and extreme weather conditions, which stress global food production, is also prioritized. The preparedness and response to Hurricane Michael demonstrate once again the importance Cuba grants to this issue, the statement added.

The information released by the FAO also acknowledges the women’s empowerment as a social and political gain of the nation, which justifies Cuba to add more motivations to be proud of its achievements with the celebration on October 15 of the International Day of Rural Women.

Here, a maxim defended with particular strength by our agency in Latin America and the Caribbean becomes a reality: ‘Rural women, women with rights,’ underlined the statement.

In addition to recognizing Cuba’s achievements in the food sector, the FAO official also called on the international community to actions -individually, in groups and collectively – to make the changes needed to build a world free of hunger and all forms of malnutrition.

The route to end hunger also aims, in a special way, to solve social inequalities, accentuated by the concentration of wealth by a minority. Banishing hunger from our planet necessarily implies eliminating the gaps of this inequality, the statement added. According to data provided by the latest report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2018, for the third consecutive year, global hunger statistics have increased.

This means that 821 million people in the world go to bed hungry, and 39.3 million of them live in Latin America and the Caribbean, the report noted.