{"id":247525,"date":"2021-12-30T14:40:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T19:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=247525"},"modified":"2021-12-30T14:40:10","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T19:40:10","slug":"cuba-msme-projected-for-raising-pigs-on-havana-rooftops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/cuba-msme-projected-for-raising-pigs-on-havana-rooftops\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba: MSME projected for raising pigs on Havana rooftops"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the midst of the scarcity and high cost of pork in Cuba, where a pound of the appreciated food has even exceeded 200 pesos \u2014 more than 8 dollars, at the official exchange rate \u2014, two Havana entrepreneurs are working on the creation of a <\/span>MSME<\/span><\/a> for the breeding of what is considered by many to be the island\u2019s national mammal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Up to there, the news does not seem at all extraordinary, beyond its socioeconomic context, which it is. However, in addition to its \u2014 undoubtedly \u2014 appreciated objective, the project has attracted the attention of Cuban specialists and authorities for its community conception and, above all, for the setting in which it plans to take place: the typical <\/span>Havana<\/span><\/a> rooftops.<\/span><\/p>\n

Azocerdo<\/em> is the name of the alleged MSME, whose file is already in the hands of the island\u2019s Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) and is currently in the evaluation phase for authorization, according to <\/span>OnCuba<\/b>. Its two main partners, the brothers Pedro and Cecilio Mantec\u00f3n, with previous experience in the business of breeding and marketing Cuban pigs and their derivatives, claim to feel \u201coptimistic\u201d with an imminent approval of their enterprise and everything that could result from it.<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, Azocerdo<\/em> plans to start on four rooftops in Centro Habana, the municipality of residence of the Mantec\u00f3n brothers. The buildings were carefully chosen \u2014 based on factors such as their surroundings, their construction status and the number of residents in them \u2014 from a wide list of aspiring sites, whose neighborhood councils presented their candidacies when the scope and nature of the project became known.<\/span><\/p>\n

The enterprise will have a community and local development profile, as it plans to employ residents of the selected buildings themselves for the care and surveillance of the animals; take advantage of local waste, which in part will be converted into feed for pigs and, in another part, recycled and sold to the raw materials enterprise; it also plans to use pig excrement to generate \u201cclean\u201d energy for the buildings themselves, with the assembly of small biogas plants.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pedro Mantec\u00f3n told <\/span>OnCuba<\/b> that he and his brother have been planning the MSME since \u201cthe price for pork went over 100 pesos per pound,\u201d and that for this, together with their experience in the business, they appealed to the \u201clong-time tradition\u201d that exists regarding this in the Cuban capital and that they were even documented with a master\u2019s thesis they found during their research on the subject, entitled \u201cThe pig in Cuba. Approach to their breeding and development in urban environments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For his part, Cecilio said that thanks to his gifts as an inventor and innovator \u2014 he was a prominent member of ANIR in his years working for the State \u2014 he made adaptations to a biogas plant model for installation between antennas and water tanks on the rooftops, and that he is currently working on a design of hygienic pens, which use recycled water from the buildings themselves, and soundproofing \u2014 based on a Japanese project that he discovered on the internet for raising sheep in Tokyo \u2014 to counteract two of the most annoying effects of pig farming: noise and bad smell.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough,\u201d he assures, \u201cthat is never lacking in Centro Habana, unlike pork,\u201d so he hopes that, even without this innovation implemented, Azocerdo can receive the approval of the MEP and even the MINSAP, and it won\u2019t be necessary to use the method of cutting the vocal cords of pigs, which, although known on the island, seems \u201cquite inhuman\u201d and, he reflects, could be punished according to the already current animal protection decree-law.<\/span><\/p>\n

El cerdo asado, \u00bfen peligro de extinci\u00f3n?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n