Cuba Reports 2011 Food Production Down and More Expensive
HAVANA TIMES — The National Statistics Office of Cuba (ONE) reports that the country is producing less food than five years ago, while food prices rose 20 percent in 2011 alone.
According to Reuters, the island imports between 60 and 70 percent of the food it consumes, which is why it is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to increase the production of rice, beans, coffee and milk as the government aims to reduce imports.
Cuban Vice President Marino Murillo announced in July before the deputies to the National Assembly that the government will reduce the state bureaucracy in the agriculture sector and strengthen the role of agricultural cooperatives. The specifics of how that is going to play out are still forthcoming.
If the PCC will ever get over its absurd prejudice against private plot ownership by farmers and ranchers, and allow them to produce for the market without fetters, Cuba will become self-sufficient in food production within a short time.
The Chinese party allowed private plot ownership after the death of Mao, and soon the country was eating again. Why can’t the Cuban comrades learn from the experience of the Chinese and come to their senses?