CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Cuba-China Debate Agricultural Development and Food Security

CUBA, December 6th, 2010.- Researchers in Cuba and China exchanged experiences in Beijing on Thursday on agricultural development and food security in a meeting that allowed participants to delve into their respective achievements and challenges in these sectors.

This scientific workshop closed the 4th Cuba-China Workshop of Social Sciences, in which the visiting delegation was headed by Vice Minister of Science, Technology and Environment Lina Dominguez, reported Prensa Latina.

Referring to the presence of these issues on the agenda of the meeting, the Cuban official told Prensa Latina that the previous one they began to discuss issues related to agricultural development, so its inclusion helped to enrich the content of these meetings.

We know that China has made achievements in this area, in which we have much to do and rectify, she added, referring to efforts by the world's most populous nation to feed its more than 1,300 million inhabitants.

Extending this idea, she noted that agriculture today is very different from 50 years ago because "we must confront the effects of climate change, there is the challenge of food security and price situation of agricultural products that vary due to speculation, among other factors," she said.

That is why we proposed to dedicate this workshop to delve into its achievements, challenges and problems, allowing us to get closer to another reality, she said.

The academic part was supplemented with visits to the Institute of Economics of the Academy of Social Sciences, where participants learned about aspects of the reforms and agriculture of this country and the Credit Bank for Rural Development, which reported on its performance.

They also toured suburban agriculture projects introducing renewable energy and working hard on saving water, common goals, according to the deputy minister.

Dominguez was accompanied by Gladys Cecilia Hernandez, Research Center of the World Economy, Lucy Martin, Center for Psychological and Sociological Research, and Eddy Frank Arjona, Agrarian University of Havana.

The experts above presented, in that order, the papers "The impact of the global crisis in the agricultural sector, the experiences of Cuba and China", "The transformation and challenges of the Cuban rural sector" and "The necessary updating of the Cuban agricultural model ".

The official also stressed that the Chinese experts always show interest in the progress in social development of the island, not only in rural areas, but in general, which adds another factor to be socio-economic, including challenges in those fields.

For his part, the Cuban ambassador to China, Carlos Miguel Pereira, told the opening session that the workshop is of great importance not only for its themes, but because it is done in a very special update of the Cuban socio-economic  model and the readjustment in force in China.

He added that all this takes on added significance amid the negative effects of the global financial crisis, instability in the global economy, climate change and the enormous price increases in international prices of food.

Convened in the context of the celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and sponsored by the Academy of Social Sciences of China, among others, this meeting is recognized as one of the most valuable expressions of bilateral cooperation in the academic sector. (Cubaminrex – Granma)