Via lactea: small-scale cooperatives and food sovereignty
Ensure food sovereignty in Cuba.
The Cuban population, troubled by the embargo imposed by the United States for decades and by a stagnating economy, is facing serious economic problems, which range from the lack of basic consumption goods on the national market (70% of these goods are imported) to the insufficient productivity of the agricultural and sheep-breeding sectors, which is still a key factor on the Cuban economy: a sector that, to this day, is made up of small producers’ families, all the members of which are involved in the daily work of breeding, harvest and artisanal production of milk and cheese.
The project
The project “Via Lactea” works to ensure and support food sovereignty to the population of 4 provinces of the Country (Mayabeque, Matanzas, Santa Clara e Cienfuegos). To do that, our collaborators are working with eight small-scale agricultural cooperatives in the field of Cheese and milk production: the project’s activities range from the improvement of pasture areas to the assurance of better health and sanitation conditions for the production, to the realization of milk collection and conservation centres. With your contribution you can concretely support the daily work of the small cooperatives that are involved (about 2000 people, 14% of which are women), made up of small-scale producers and farmers’ families, and ensure the population a more balanced and rich diet, in particular to the 2500 children living in the 4 provinces, which will have a litre of better quality, locally produced milk every day. In fact, at present time, the most distributed type of milk is powdered milk, which has low nutritive value.
Info
| ORIGINAL NAME OF THE PROJECT: | Via Lactea |
| AREAS INTERESTED BY THE PROJECT: | Municipio di Nueva Paz (provincia Mayabeque), Colon e Los Arabos (provincia Matanzas) Aguada de Pasajeros (provincia Cienfuegos), Placetas e Camaguanì (provincia Villa Clara). |
| DIRECT BENEFICIARIES OF THE PROJECT: | 8 agricultural cooperatives of 4 provinces (Mayabeque, Matanzas, Santa Clara e Cienfuegos) |
| DATES OF THE PROJECT: | From February 2015 to February 2017 |
