According to the report Food Perspectives, transmitted by the organization’s office in Havana, Brazil will replace the United States as the world’s third largest supplier of soybean oil and will continue to be the main global supplier of poultry and flour.

Regarding the projections in the production of milk and beef, FAO estimates an increase in the results in these areas.

According to the text, the expansion of wheat planting in Argentina allows estimating an increase of eight percent of production in that country of South America.

However, Mexico, one of the main Latin American producers of this cereal, recorded a decline in the level of plantations, which is expected to significantly reduce its production.

According to the FAO, wheat imports in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2018-2019 will approach 25 million tons, for an increase of close to one million tons, mainly due to the major acquisitions in Brazil and Mexico, the main ones buyers of that food in the area.

Regarding rice, prospects in the area are negative, and point to an annual reduction of 1.5 percent in total production, which will fall to 18.6 million tons.

Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela will harvest less rice than in 2017, falls that will not be compensated by the increases foreseen in Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Paraguay and Peru.

Total purchases of Latin America and the Caribbean cereal could decrease by five percent to 4.2 million tons, as a result of cuts in Brazil, Haiti, Mexico and Peru, due to sufficient local availability and higher international prices.

With respect to sugar, in South America the latest estimates point to a decrease in production in 2017/18, in generally unfavorable climatic conditions (Argentina) and a greater proportion of the sugarcane crop used for ethanol production (Brazil).

(Prensa Latina)

The commendable efforts are reinforced by the fact that Cuba is one of the few states both to have met the Millennium Development Goals and the goal set at the World Food Summit held in Rome in 1996, an event at which Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro – in a speech described as impressive – called for more serious goals regarding hunger and poverty.

In the lead up to the celebrations for World Food Day and the 70th anniversary of the founding of FAO this October 16, Friedrich emphasized that major projects are underway in Cuba, in collaboration with the agency he represents, , including support for national initiatives for agricultural development, food security, fisheries, forestry and nutrition.

He recalled that the island is one of the 42 founding nations of the FAO, and is very receptive to its work, as well as being an active collaborator across different platforms and conventions.

In the year in which an agenda geared toward 17 Sustainable Development Goals is underway, and in a world where 80% of the poor live in rural areas with agriculture as a fundamental means of subsistence, measures to achieve a Zero Hunger Generation and the eradication of extreme poverty must continue to be implemented. “We have already embarked on the path toward the new development agenda,” Friedrich stated, which was recently approved by 193 states at the United Nations.

He also noted that the last three director generals of the FAO have visited Cuba, reflecting the recognition of national efforts in this field.

After seven decades of ties between Cuba and the FAO, Friedrich recalled that the most important aspect is not the amount of money invested, but the opportunities and capacities created to complete his mission here, including the support, technical assistance and dissemination of information to the professional food and agriculture sector, among others. He also highlighted the aims of the Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2014 – 2018 and the impact of South-South cooperation.

Furthermore, he reiterated the progress of the island in several strategic areas, compared to other countries. However, this does not mean that the FAO has completed its mission in the country. There is still some way to go in terms of conservation agriculture, for example, and ways to better prepare for the increasing impact of climate change. On sustainable production, the FAO representative explained that this is a present and future global challenge, in a world that continues to grow at breakneck speed.

The meeting, to run June 1-2 at the Convention Center at an initaitive of the UN Food and agriculture Organization (FAO), is aimed at discussing the implementation of soil-related actions for the period 2016-2019.

This is part of activities to precede an international congress on soils, scheduled for June 3-5, also at the Convention Center.

The congress is convened by the Institute of Soils and the Cuban Society of Soil Science as part of activities for the declaration of 2015 as “International Year of Soils” by the United Nations at a proposal by FAO.

The forum includes a series of masterly lectures by outstanding esxperts while four symposiums will deal with results of international projects implemented in Cuba..

There will also be an exhibit in which Cuban and foreign firms will show and market soil-related equipment, technologies and services.

(Prensa Latina)