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Farmers do not produce because the State does not pay them, and when they do not produce, the State blames them for the food crisis, as argued in an analysis by the newspaper Girón that exposes one of the most serious contradictions of Cuban agriculture.
The article, authored by journalist Humberto Fuentes, accurately describes the mechanism that paralyzes the field.
The producer delivers their milk, meat, or root vegetables to the state enterprise, signs a receipt, and waits 30, 60, 90 days or more to get paid, while the supplies needed to continue producing—such as seeds, fertilizers, and labor costs—must be paid upfront, in cash, and often in dollars.
This distortion is exacerbated by the scarcity of fuel and power outages, in a situation that drives many farmers to a loss of capital, demotivation, and the diversion of their production to informal channels.
"Lower income leads to reduced purchasing power for inputs. When it’s not possible to buy feed, the cattle herd's milk production declines. Without the ability to purchase fertilizers, the land is no longer cultivated or treated in a timely manner. Failing to pay laborers results in lost harvests. Non-payment causes low productivity, which is then criticized," he concluded.
What incentive does a farmer have to expand their crops, become more technologically advanced, or even maintain the same level of production, when they know that every peso they generate turns into a piece of paper with no expiration date for collection?
Many producers are seeking alternatives to achieve immediate liquidity and survive. As a result, part of the production ends up in agricultural markets driven by supply and demand, or in the black market, often out of necessity for survival.
An old problem
The problem is neither new nor isolated. The Acopio de La Habana owed nearly 200 million pesos to its producers, an amount that already highlighted the scale of the financial collapse of the state agricultural purchasing system.
In Sancti Spíritus, Río Zaza has accumulated more than 150 million pesos in debt with its suppliers, halting production in one of the most important agricultural areas of the country.
In Granma, farmers in Yara reported over 1,000 tons of tomatoes unpaid for, a concrete example of how non-payment destroys entire harvests and discourages future planting.
The consequences on food availability are devastating. Official data confirms that the production of root vegetables dropped by 44%, eggs by 43%, and milk by 37.6%, figures that reflect the direct outcome of a system that penalizes those who produce.
Even the official press has acknowledged the consequences of this practice.
Cubadebate recently published an article with the eloquent title: Not Honoring Debts Comes at a High Cost, implicitly acknowledging that the State has systematically failed to meet its commitments to producers.
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