Addis Ababa, July 28 (Prensa Latina) Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca reaffirmed Cuba’s willingness to contribute to positioning food systems at the center of development agendas to combat hunger, poverty, and inequality.
Speaking at the opening session of the Second Review of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS+4), Tapia Fonseca reaffirmed that achieving these goals, especially for countries in the South, requires a joint and united mobilization of all.
She called for the promotion of cooperation mechanisms in the agricultural sector that would allow for the creation of platforms for food chains with a focus on social protection, with the participation of young people, women, and rural communities.
He also called for increased collaboration among countries, prioritizing the exchange of experiences in food security, sovereignty and self-sufficiency, nutrition and health, science and innovation, agroecology, agricultural extension, 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, in which trillions of dollars are spent each year on military spending and in which many of us are victims of unilateral coercive measures that hinder our development aspirations,” the Havana representative denounced.
Along the same lines, he stated that this international order is incapable of preventing the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip in Palestine, a victim of genocide by Israel, from facing a serious food crisis and hundreds of people, including children and the elderly, from dying of malnutrition and hunger.
Cuba, he emphasized, despite the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States government, remains committed to seeking creative solutions that will allow it to move forward and counter the impact of this unilateral measure.
He mentioned the Food and Nutrition Sovereignty and Security Law, approved on the Caribbean island in 2022, which facilitates the joint action of all national and local institutions and structures linked to food production, with the primary support of agroecological development and its proven environmental protection.
“The resources to eradicate hunger and transform food systems are available; all that’s needed is political will and commitment to use them for the benefit of the people,” the Cuban deputy prime minister asserted.
In this regard, he added that South-South cooperation demonstrated that with solidarity and determination, it is possible to promote food security.
He expressed his gratitude to the United Nations and the governments of Ethiopia and Italy for organizing UNFSS+4, as well as for the hospitality provided to the Cuban delegation.
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