"The bells that toll today for those who die of hunger every day will toll tomorrow for all of humanity if it did not want, did not know how, or was not wise enough to save itself," said Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz at the World Food Summit in 1996.
This was recalled yesterday by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, at the World Food Forum, in which Cuba participated virtually.
In this regard, the Cuban leader said that Fidel had accorded the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) "great importance" since its creation and emphasized "his constant concern as a promoter of solidarity and brotherhood among peoples for the eradication of hunger and poverty."
In 1978, an FAO representation was officially established on the island, marking the beginning of key cooperation to strengthen food security and sustainable rural development.
In a context of wars, climate change, and widening gaps between the haves and the have-nots; between the ultra-rich and the dispossessed, the hungry, the outcasts of the market in the neoliberal era, the challenge, he said, is "to achieve a world free of hunger and malnutrition, where food and agriculture contribute to sustainably improving the living standards of all people."
In this regard, he highlighted that Cuba has made its capabilities and experience available for South-South cooperation, while receiving support from the FAO in the development and implementation of public policies to transform local food systems, including the Law on Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security, as well as other policies and regulations. With FAO support, 13 projects covering 59 municipalities will be implemented in Cuba in 2025, he said.
The event was an opportunity to recognize the work of that organization alongside Cuba "to achieve better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. Together with the FAO, we continue to consolidate our essential goals in the country, to move towards more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agri-food systems," he said.
On the occasion of the FAO's 80th anniversary, Díaz-Canel took the opportunity to highlight it as a key player in supporting the country in the transformation of agri-food systems, the fight against climate change, and the conservation of biodiversity. Likewise, in promoting the empowerment of women and young people in rural areas.
He also referred to the empire's attempt, through unilateral coercive measures such as the blockade, to bring the Cuban people to their knees through hunger and deprivation, while employing other genocidal methods in Gaza, where famine has been a constant feature of the last two years. Finally, he praised the efforts of those working in the organization to eradicate famine from the planet.
