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The World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations activated an emergency project this Tuesday to support school feeding in the five eastern provinces of Cuba, as reported by the state media Cubadebate.
The initiative, which will have a preliminary duration of six months, will mobilize resources equivalent to 60 million Cuban pesos from the Debt Conversion Program between Spain and Cuba, a bilateral agreement signed in 2016 and implemented in July 2025.
According to the report, the funds will be allocated for the purchase of food for 74 educational centers distributed across 19 municipalities in the eastern region, directly benefiting 12,677 children in early childhood, primary education, and special schools.
The implementation mechanism consists of transferring money to the territories so they can purchase locally produced food, with the aim of ensuring fresher and more timely supplies to the classrooms.
In this scheme, 42 local productive entities responsible for supplying fresh food will participate, while more than 3,000 workers in the educational sector will benefit indirectly.
The Ministry of Education of the Cuban regime will coordinate the implementation alongside local governments, while the PMA will provide technical assistance, monitoring, and support for accountability.
"This project demonstrates how international cooperation can translate into concrete solutions for communities. Thanks to the resources from the Debt Conversion Program, WFP supports national efforts to strengthen school feeding, assist local producers, and promote a model that better connects schools with the food systems of their territories," stated Etienne Labande, representative of WFP in Cuba.
The announcement comes at a time of severe food crisis that particularly affects Cuban children. According to UNICEF data from December 2024, only 9% of Cuban children have access to two of the eight essential foods for a healthy diet.
The National Office of Statistics and Information recorded a 74% increase in deaths due to malnutrition between 2022 and 2023, rising from 43 to 75 fatalities.
The Food Monitor Program has reported that what is served in many Cuban schools is "humiliation" rather than sustenance: dishes in deplorable condition and lacking any nutritional value, which undermine the physical and mental development of girls and boys.
In May 2024, authorities in Santiago de Cuba forced students to bite their bread before leaving the classroom to prevent the resale of school snacks, and in October of the same year, classes were suspended in schools in that province due to a lack of food.
The WFP had already allocated 57.9 million dollars to Cuba in the 2021-2025 cooperation cycle, including five million specifically for school feeding in the eastern provinces, making the new project a continuation and expansion of that previous effort.
The Spain-Cuba Debt Conversion Program, which finances this initiative, can mobilize up to 375 million euros for sustainable development projects in sectors such as energy, water, and food security, turning Cuban debt with Spain into social investments.
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