Five farmers from the municipality of Majibacoa, in the province of Las Tunas, received irrigation systems and electric motorcycles thanks to a donation from the German humanitarian organization Bread for the World, carried out through the Center for Exchange and Reference on Community Initiatives (CIERIC) as part of the project "Women and Youth Empowerment for Economic and Productive Dynamization of Majibacoa."
The first shipment of materials, according to a report from Tunera television, took place at the farm of the Velázquez brothers, in that municipality of central-western Tunera, and benefited the producers with devices to irrigate a total of four hectares, as well as alternative transportation means due to the fuel shortages that are crippling the country. However, the electrical supply for these devices can also be hard to access, given the power outages lasting more than 20 to 30 hours that the Island is experiencing.
One of the beneficiaries explained the importance of the donation in concrete terms: "It really means a lot to a farmer and to the municipality's contribution to food production because this province, this place, goes through very long dry periods, and if we don’t rely on irrigation, our harvests are minimal."
The same producer emphasized that the area remains unproductive for half the year, as they can only harvest during "the rainy season, which is often very short." Therefore, with the equipment provided, "production doubles; an irrigation system is invaluable for a farmer," he said.
Another farmer, a member of a Credit and Services Cooperative and a direct recipient of the aid, highlighted the positive environmental impact: "Production increases and water consumption decreases. Therefore, it results in a greater reduction in environmental impact, less erosion, and less water."
Among the project priorities in Majibacoa, the report indicates support for the nutrition of pregnant women, the operation of a small industry, and sales points for agricultural products. Bread for the World, the humanitarian arm of Protestant churches in Germany, operates in over 90 countries, combating hunger, poverty, and social injustice.
The donation arrives amid the most severe food crisis Cuba has faced in decades. According to the Food Monitor Program, with data from 2025, 96.91% of the population lacks adequate access to food, 25% go to bed without dinner, and 29% skip a daily meal. National agricultural production, as revealed in January of that same year, collapsed in January 2025: root vegetables fell by 44%, eggs by 43%, and milk by 37.6%. Meanwhile, the 2024-2025 sugar harvest produced less than 150,000 metric tons, the lowest figure in over a century.
In Las Tunas, since last year, the drought has complicated the situation with reservoirs significantly below their capacity and daily milk deliveries from livestock considerably reduced. In light of the reality of more than 46,400 unproductive hectares in the province, the first secretary of the Communist Party in the area, Osbel Lorenzo Rodríguez, called for "greater effort and commitment" from land and livestock tenants.
The German donation to the farmers of Majibacoa represents a small real relief for those who receive it, but it contrasts sharply with the magnitude of a structural crisis that the regime itself acknowledged this Saturday by announcing the end of the state monopoly on Acopio in crop purchases, implicitly admitting decades of failure in its agricultural policy.
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