On September 15, 2026, Cuban President and First Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez convened a high-profile meeting with agricultural and livestock sector representatives at Havana’s Convention Center. The gathering centered on advancing the implementation of the country’s sweeping 176-point national economic and social transformation program, with a sharp focus on unlocking growth in Cuba’s critical food production sector. Senior party and government officials, including Political Bureau member Roberto Morales Ojeda, Central Committee Agri-food Department head José Ramón Monteagudo Ruiz, and Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca, joined the discussion to align on priorities for the sector.
During the meeting, stakeholders shared on-the-ground experiences, highlighting both early wins from the reforms and ongoing barriers to full implementation. Deputy Minister of Agriculture Telce Abdel González Morera outlined that 162 of the 176 national transformation measures directly impact Cuba’s agricultural and livestock industry. These changes include an overhaul of 20 existing legal frameworks, creating a cohesive regulatory structure that covers every segment of production: from land access and genetic development to plant and animal health, technology, input supply, and marketing. González Morera emphasized that the updated regulatory landscape now delivers far greater legal certainty for producers across all ownership models.
Multiple producers shared tangible success stories that demonstrate the impact of the reforms. Yoandris Beltrán Pérez, president of the Poultry Business Group, reported that organizational restructuring, which cut central headquarters staff by spinning off new micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to handle specialized services, has reversed financial fortunes. After projecting 2 billion pesos in losses in 2025, the group has already accumulated 56 million pesos in profit in 2026. Additional reforms have guided the group toward integrated national and regional value chains, a shift to renewable energy, improved poultry genetic stock, and expanded breeding stock marketing, with workers reporting higher motivation amid the changes.
Dianelis Saborido Pérez, General Director of the Emilio Córdova Agro-industrial Grain Enterprise in Villa Clara, highlighted how combining longstanding agricultural policy measures with the new transformation framework has driven rapid expansion. The enterprise has grown rice cultivation by more than 2,000 hectares, with 2026 planting hitting 11,068 hectares—exceeding the 10,880 hectare target. Notably, nearly 1,000 hectares are managed by a non-state MSME, which has achieved an average yield of 4.5 tons of wet paddy per hectare. Under the new model, non-state entities handle not just cultivation but also milling and drying operations, creating a mutually beneficial cooperative cycle that generates new jobs and supports local community and social initiatives.
Smaller and independent producers also detailed progress. Yoisel Pereda Milián, president of Artemisa-based MSME Don Pereda, outlined a new partnership with the Artemisa Swine Enterprise to supply weaned piglets for fattening, with operations leveraging artificial insemination and renewable energy to boost efficiency. Even producers initially skeptical of change have seen benefits: Fernando Ravelo Hernández, president of the Cuba-México Agricultural Production Cooperative in Artemisa, shared that he once opposed partnering with external land usufructuaries, but has since adopted a flexible approach that now sees the cooperative providing irrigation and machinery services to neighboring producers, lifting output for all parties.
While celebrating early progress, producers also flagged ongoing challenges. Abelardo Álvarez Silva, president of the Antero Regalado Credit and Services Cooperative in Güira de Melena, called for expanded training programs, noting that many smallholder farmers still do not fully understand the new rules and opportunities available to them. He also urged continued regular dialogue between national leadership and producers to identify bottlenecks and track implementation progress.
Opening the discussion, Díaz-Canel reaffirmed his confidence that the agricultural and livestock sector is positioned to deliver immediate, tangible results for the Cuban people, noting that the reforms have expanded opportunities for producers to improve performance. In closing, he acknowledged that while the meeting showcased promising success stories, implementation remains uneven across the country, with many projects still stalled. He noted that many producers achieved strong results even during periods of greater economic difficulty, thanks to adaptive management, integration of science and innovation, and worker-centered organization.
Díaz-Canel stressed that the core challenge now is scaling these proven successful models nationwide. He outlined the key pillars of the agricultural transformation: updated land use frameworks, formal recognition of cross-sector alliances between state, private, mixed, and individual entities, expanded cooperative autonomy including new rights to import inputs and export products, decentralization of the Agricultural Development Fund to local levels, the creation of a dedicated agricultural development bank, and new incentives for domestic and foreign investment—including investment from Cubans living abroad.
The President emphasized that the 176 transformations represent far more than a regulatory update: they are a fundamental shift in operating logic, moving producers from being mere executors of central plans to active managers of Cuba’s food production destiny. He called on sector stakeholders to embrace their role as owners of the reform process, noting that successful implementation will deliver a new era of agricultural development and long-term food sovereignty for Cuba. Echoing the core principle that “the country is built from the furrow, not from a desk,” Díaz-Canel underscored that the sector’s contribution to national progress is decisive. He closed by noting that while new laws have opened unprecedented opportunities for producers, success depends on on-the-ground action, urging the sector to meet the challenge and deliver increased food output that meets the needs of Cuban families, improves purchasing power, and lowers food prices across the country.
