Cuban agriculture faces another hard year

Cuba moved nearly 15 per cent less produce through domestic markets during the first six months of the year, compared with the same period in 2017, signalling another bad year for its agricultural sector, according to a government report. The market sales in the report, issued over the weekend, account for 10 per cent to 15 per cent of agricultural output, according to a local expert, who requested anonymity due to restrictions on talking with journalists. The remainder of food production is earmarked for processing plants, tourism, exports, a rationing system and meals at workplaces, hospitals, schools and other social uses, he said.

The country is dotted with outdoor markets and kiosks, more than 70 per cent of which are state-run and have fixed prices for many items.

The report is the first this year on agriculture and indicates Hurricane Irma, which devastated the country a year ago, and unseasonable rainfall during the first months of 2018 took a toll on the sector, which has stagnated for a decade.

More than 60 per cent of Cuban produce is harvested from January through June.

The National Statistics Office report said 237,000 tonnes of produce such as potatoes, plantains, tomatoes, mangos, rice and beans moved through the markets, compared with 277,000 tonnes during the same period in 2017.

Sales of meats were up nearly 6 per cent to 7,400 tonnes, but the availability of eggs, a critical source of protein in the country, fell dramatically, according to the report. Irma destroyed numerous chicken farms. Cuba imports more than 60 per cent of the food it consumes at a cost of around $2 billion annually.

The communist-run country is currently squeezed for cash and has slashed imports by 25 per cent since 2015.

The state owns 80 per cent of the land and leases most of that to farmers and cooperatives. The remainder is owned by family farmers.

The government often blames bad weather and the US trade embargo for poor production, while critics charge it is due to a lack of private property and foreign investment, rickety infrastructure and a Soviet-style command economy.

Cuba’s government under former President Raul Castro began leasing land, decentralising decision-making and introducing market mechanisms into the sector a decade ago. But the state has backtracked on the reforms, once more assigning resources, setting prices and controlling most distribution.

President Miguel Diaz-canel, who took office this year, has not changed that policy.