Cuba has less milk now than during the Special Period – 2024-03-09 17:16:19

Cuba is going through the worst economic crisis in its history, something that brings with it the shortage of almost all food and products in the country. One of the most notable deficiencies is that of milk.

According to Cuban economist Pedro Monreal, official data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) has revealed that Cuba is producing less milk now than it did during the so-called Special Period in the 90s, which clearly shows the severity of the problem.

“Before you continue with the matter of the ‘situations’ with milk (‘lockdown’, the weather, the WFP, etc.) take note, if it is not too much to ask, of the comparative dynamics of milk production in the ‘special period’ and in the current agricultural crisis. Guess which one is worse? ”Wrote the expert on his social networks.

Before you continue with the matter of the “situations” with milk (“lockdown”, the weather, the WFP, etc.) take note, if it is not too much to ask, of the comparative dynamics of milk production in the “ special period” and in the current agricultural crisis. Guess which one is worse? pic.twitter.com/gA2RUSbM7T

— Pedro Monreal (@pmmonreal) March 4, 2024

The ONEI takes as its starting point what it defines as the “peak year” of each annual series to illustrate the behavior of milk production in both periods. In the case of the Special Period, this was the year 1992.

This “peak year” is defined as the year prior to a period of two consecutive years of decreases.

The graph showed that the line representing milk production between 1992 and 1997 decreased considerably, but managed to recover after three years, even exceeding the levels prior to the Special Period.

For its part, the current crisis, whose “peak year” was established in 2017, continues to decrease its milk production, even five years later.

According to a study by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Island should have 1.6 billion liters of milk per year to meet the consumption standards established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (FAO, for its acronym in English).

However, the ONEI revealed that, in 2020, the Island barely managed to produce about 450 million, the third lowest figure in its history since the 90s.

Recently, the same government acknowledged that it had to ask for help from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), something it had not done before. The official media took advantage of this to blame the US again, This despite the fact that the Island recently bought 500 tons of powdered milk from him.