Cuba imports agricultural products that it used to produce, while bureaucracy stifles the farmer

Chilean oranges, garlic and onions from China, and even potatoes from the United States are arriving at Cuban commercial establishments, while national production remains paralyzed and farmers lack autonomy over the land and cooperatives have no freedom to decide what to sell.

Social media users are reporting that the situation is not just economic, but structural: the land remains under state control, the collection system imposes prices and marketing routes, and private innovation is either limited or criminalized.

Through her profile on Facebook, engineer Yulieta Hernández mentioned that during a tour of commercial establishments in Havana, she noted the availability of imported potatoes, garlic, and onions at high prices, generally inaccessible for a majority of the impoverished population due to failed government policies and the failure of the centralized model.

But beyond the price, he emphasized the country's dependence on foreign products and criticized the lack of policies that promote domestic production.

He pointed out that the agricultural cooperatives are still bound, the land does not belong to the farmers, and the state-run Acopio continues to monopolize buying and selling, preventing autonomous decisions about what to produce and at what price.

Hernández listed a series of structural problems that have left Cuban agriculture stagnant: outdated machinery or lack of spare parts, scarce fuel, insufficient fertilizers and seeds, nearly non-existent irrigation systems, absence of financing and tax incentives, as well as the penalization of private innovation and the criminalization of productive associations outside the state framework.

All of this prevents farmers from planting and trading autonomously, and creates a cycle of dependency that forces the country to import food it could produce, stated the director of the private small and medium-sized enterprise Pilares Construcciones.

Among his proposals, Hernández emphasized the urgency of granting land ownership to farmers, eliminating the Acopio monopoly, allowing direct sales between producers and consumers, and legalizing private agricultural enterprises and independent cooperatives.

He also expressed support for ensuring access to inputs and technology, promoting agroecology and food sovereignty, activating digital platforms for traceability and marketing, and creating opportunities for youth to participate in sustainable agricultural projects.

The orange that was once produced in Cuba

In another post, on the social network itself, the citizen Manuel Viera provided another angle of the crisis: the disappearance of citrus activity, which previously supplied the country and exported to Europe and Asia.

In this regard, he criticized the State's inability to maintain it, attributing the problem to decades of centralization and absolute control.

He referred, for example, to the sale of oranges imported from Chile in a Havana-based small and medium-sized enterprise, priced at 390 pesos each, which is a luxury for most Cubans and reflects how historical productive capacities were destroyed “in a country that used to sell oranges to the world.”

In this regard, Viera highlighted the impact on new generations: many Cuban children are seeing foods that were once commonplace and accessible for the first time.

The testimonies of Hernández and Viera demonstrate that the agricultural crisis is not just economic, but also structural and political: the land is not owned by the farmer, bureaucracy hinders every attempt at improvement, the youth are leaving the countryside, and productive forces remain stagnant.

Imports fill the gap of what the country could produce, but at high prices and without resolving the historical dependency.

The current situation reflects decades of centralized policies that hinder autonomy, limit innovation, and keep producers subordinated.

Only with profound reforms—land distribution, elimination of monopolies, legalization of independent cooperatives, access to technology, financing, and youth participation—Hernández and Viera agree that Cuba will be able to produce enough food for its population and regain food sovereignty.

The Cuban government attributes the collapse of the agricultural sector to a lack of supplies, fuel shortages, and weather conditions. However, the latter do not seem to affect neighboring Dominican Republic, from where nearly 16.5 million eggs are imported monthly.

Cuba also imports eggs from countries like Colombia and the United States. In fact, the latter are sold in state-owned foreign currency stores and by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes).

Online stores also sell eggs from the United States on the island, although the regime maintains that the U.S. embargo prevents it from buying basic food products.

Although the Cuban government boasts about the approval of a Food Sovereignty Law, the Cuba Statistical Yearbook 2023 confirmed an unprecedented collapse in the production of essential foods such as pork, rice, eggs, milk, and root vegetables, which underscores the severity of the food crisis on the island.

Frequently Asked Questions about Food Dependency and Agricultural Crisis in Cuba