The Cuban regime approved a new Agricultural and Forestry Land Law that expands access to idle state lands and will allow them to be granted in usufruct for periods of up to 25 years, with the possibility of extension, to private, state, and mixed small and medium enterprises, as well as to foreign individuals and entities.
The National Assembly of People's Power approved on July 29, 2026, the , a regulation that establishes the general framework for the regime of property, possession, inheritance upon death, and use of land and agricultural assets in Cuba, applicable to both natural and legal persons.
One of the most significant changes is the expansion of access to the usufruct of idle state lands: private, state, and mixed MIPYMES, as well as foreign natural and legal persons, will be able to apply for it. Usufruct contracts may be extended for up to 25 renewable years.
For individuals, the law establishes a limit of 67.10 hectares—equivalent to five caballerías—with the possibility of gradual expansion up to 268 hectares for specific activities such as livestock farming, reforestation, sugarcane, or rice cultivation.
The regulation was published this Wednesday in the , pages three to 42, with code GOC-2026-499-O75, and was enacted by Esteban Lazo Hernández, President of the National Assembly, through Agreement X-174.
The law will come into effect 90 calendar days after its publication, placing its effective application around December 8, 2026.
Among its central provisions, the regulation establishes that land not designated for agricultural production "is considered idle or poorly utilized" and that the State will monitor compliance with the principles governing property, possession, and land use.
It also recognizes rights over improvements and housing constructed by usufructuaries under conditions of contractual compliance, and allows the transfer of land between peasant owners through sale, exchange, donation, or partial assignment, with the State holding preferential rights in all cases.
Law 185 expressly repeals Decree-Law 125 of 1991 regarding possession, ownership, and inheritance of land, and Decree-Law 358 of 2018 concerning the transfer of idle state lands for usufruct, unifying more than 25 scattered legal provisions into a single legal framework.
Alongside Law 185, the that comprehensively update Cuban agricultural policy, including Decree 175 from the Council of Ministers —the regulation of the law itself— and the .
The reform occurs in the context of a severe food crisis: Cuba imports between 70% and 80% of the food it consumes, and a 2025 survey revealed that 33.9% of households reported that at least one person went to bed hungry at least once in the past year.
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