FAO Cuba and Netherlands Embassy organize first circular agriculture workshop in Cuba
20 Cuban farmers and representatives of Cuba’s agricultural sector took part in the first circular agriculture workshop. The workshop took place at the 2023 edition of FIAGROP, Cuba’s annual agri-food trade show.
On March 22, the First Circular Agriculture Workshop took place in Havana with the participation of 20 Cuban farmers and other stakeholders. Organized by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cuba and the Cuban office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the workshop was aimed at exchanging knowledge about circular agriculture and sharing experiences from The Netherlands with Cuban farmers.
The workshop was held in conjunction with the 2023 edition of Cuba’s International Agro-industrial Food Fair FIAGROP and featured presentations by experts from the Netherlands and FAO. Among the experts were Erik Plaisier, Dutch Agricultural Counselor for Cuba; Ria Hulsman, Regional Manager for Latin America at Wageningen University & Research and Joao Intini, FAO Food Systems Policy Adviser.
Also present were the FAO Representative in Cuba Marcelo Resende, Dutch Ambassador Eric Strating, Cuban Vice-Minister of Agriculture Diosnel San Loys, Director of International Affairs at the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture, Orlando Díaz Rodríguez and Rector of the Agrarian University of Havana Antihus Alexander Hernández.
"As of 2019, our Embassy in Havana has had a common strategy with FAO Cuba to promote the development of circular agriculture in the country, and that is why we are here today" explained Ambassador Strating. He referred to the importance of the collaboration between science, the private sector and the Government for the creation of productive systems that make the most out of available resources and minimize environmental pollution.
Marcelo Resende, FAO Representative in Cuba, thanked the cooperation between FAO Cuba and The Netherlands in circular agriculture and the participation of farmers in this first workshop. He also expressed his willingness to continue mobilizing resources to cooperate on these issues and to be able to multiply experiences oriented towards the circular economy in the country's local food systems.
Building a more resilient food system that is able to withstand today’s multiple crisis is paramount. In this context, circular agriculture offers a framework of systemic solutions for Cuba, which is why the promotion of circular agriculture is a priority in the common work agenda in Cuba between The Netherlands and FAO.