Cuban Agriculture News -- EFE & Reuters

07/25/08 - EFE (Madrid ) -
11,000 Cuban farm workers to receive aid for commerce
(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Granada, Spain, Jul 25 (EFE).-

More than 11,000 Cuban farm workers will receive microcredits thanks to an accord signed Friday between the United Nations and CajaGranada Social Work, which is contributing 90,000 euros ($141,255), the equivalent of 130,000 Cuban convertible pesos, to stimulate employment and viable agricultural enterprises in the Caribbean country.

The collaboration agreement is part of the United Nations Development Program in Cuba and will allow farmers from the provinces of Las Tunas and Holguin to receive small, low-interest loans with great flexibility of repayment. Microcredits are very small loans that are granted to the unemployed, poor entrepreneurs and others living in poverty.

The president of CajaGranada, Antonio Claret Garcia, announced at a press conference that the economic contribution will be managed by the Rotating Fund for Local Development Projects, or Fridel, for the granting of loans geared to helping farmers bring lamb, goat and rabbit meat to market. Fridel, the main tool of the United Nations Development Program in Cuba,plans to step up productivity and the rational use of resources through the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises, as long as they are compatible with respect for the environment.

Along the same line, CajaGranada's president recalled that the company's Social Work division has developed projects involving international cooperation, among which he mentioned the launching of microcredits in countries like Chile, the Dominican Republic and Morocco.He said that these small loans allow companies "to survive longer and become more profitable," given that the average survival of a company is 50 percent and that of companies set up with microcredits is 75 percent. EFE

07/24/08 - Reuters - Cuba to let farmers buy equipment on credit
Published: Thursday, July 24, 2008

HAVANA -- Communist Cuba has begun offering private farmers equipment and other resources on credit along with more land, as President Raul Castro seeks to reform agriculture by loosening the state's grip.

Just days after a government decree authorizing land grants to farmers, they are being called to meetings and asked what machinery and other resources they need to make the best use of it. "They told us to present our requests immediately for what we need and that Venezuela, Iran and other countries had given credit to cover the resources," the treasurer of a private co-operative said by telephone after attending a meeting this week.

Iran recently agreed to increase trade credits to Cuba from 200 million euros to 500 million euros, and Venezuela already finances dozens of factory and farm projects.Hundreds of farmers were told at the meeting in central Cuba called by the Association of Small Farmers not to hold back on their requests.

"We can ask for whatever we need. Machinery, spare parts, irrigation systems, wind mills, land clearing kits, you name it," the co-operative member said.

Decision-making in the sector was recently decentralized, and redundant state-run companies merged. The state, which purchases 70 per cent to 80 per cent of farm output, has doubled or even tripled the prices it pays. The remaining 20 per cent to 30 per cent of production is sold on the open market.

Cuba's 250,000 family farmers and 1,000 private co-operatives produce as much as state farms do on just 25 per cent as much land.