Havana, Cuba.- Contributing to strengthening food and nutritional security is one of the priorities of the FAO office in Cuba, it was reported here on Tuesday.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), that agency seeks to contribute to achieving that goal by establishing inclusive food systems for sustainable development.

A document from the FAO office in Cuba, to which Prensa Latina had access, said that priorities include boosting the preservation of natural resources, the adaptation to climate change and the resilience of livelihoods for irrigation and the respond to emergencies.

Another priority is to promote South-South cooperation based on the country’s scientific-technical potential.

In 2018, FAO executed ten projects in Cuba totaling 300,000 dollars, including the fields of aquiculture, reduction of food losses, agriculture, training, gender awareness and the introduction of trials on corn and 141 varieties of beans.

Among prospects, the FAO office seeks to consolidate cooperation with the European Union in public politics, science, technology and innovation, in the framework of the Impact, Resilience and Sustainability and Transformation for Food and Nutritional Security (FIRST) program.

FAO also plans to strengthen cooperation with the 2014-2020 Multiannual Indicative Program for Cuba and the improvement of the association between the organization and the island’s ministries of Agriculture, Food Industry, and Science, Technology and Environment.

Cuba was one of the countries that participated in the foundational meeting of FAO on October 16, 1945. After 1959, cooperation started systematically.

In 1968, FAO opened an office in Havana for the first time, and a decade later, on February 28, 1978, the representation of that UN agency in Cuba was inaugurated officially.
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