Cuba allocated only 5% of its investments to agriculture in 2019, economist Pedro Monreal warned this weekend, citing data from the Statistical Yearbook published by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
“The vulnerabilities of Cuba’s economic structure, aggravated by the recent crisis associated with the pandemic, impose an urgent review of investments,” Monreal wrote on his Twitter profile.
1/4 La ONEI publicó los datos de inversión 2019. Se confirma estructura desbalanceada de inversiones. El 37,3% se concentra en “servicios empresariales y actividad inmobiliaria”. Llaman la atención las reducciones de inversión en agricultura, salud pública y ciencia e innovación pic.twitter.com/qsLSvotSs0
— Pedro Monreal (@pmmonreal) August 29, 2020
The doctor in Economic Sciences and a specialist in the UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Program said that Cuba, a country with a significant food deficit, cannot afford to dedicate 5% of the investment to agriculture.
He drew attention to the “unbalanced structure” in investments reflected in official statistics: “37.3% are concentrated in ‘business services and real estate activity,’ Monreal said, while pointing out investment reductions in agriculture, public health and science and innovation.
The disparity is just as notable in terms of territories; according to ONEI data, Havana accounted for almost 6 out of every 10 pesos invested in the country in 2019.
Almost 70% of the total investment in Cuba in the year is just concentrated between the Cuban capital and the province of Artemisa.
Agriculture has been classified as a strategic sector for the Cuban government, which describes food production as a national security problem; however, this sector does nothing more than accumulate red numbers.
Cuba to produce just 10% of its annual demand for beans in 2020
The production of meat, grains and other products of high demand in the diet of Cubans have decreased due to the economic crisis the island has had for years, to which is added the strengthening of the U.S. embargo and the situation of global paralysis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuba will produce only 7,000 tons of beans in 2020, which represents only 10% of the annual demand for the grain on the island, according to recent statements by the head of the department of various crops of the Ministry of Agriculture, Yojan García, cited by the official media.
