• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 02 / 26 / 2011

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Feb 25 (Prensa Latina) International organization OXFAM International started a supporting project to the Cuban suburban agriculture, which will benefit 87 local cooperative companies and institutions, said OXFAM International coordinator Beat Schmid in this capital Friday.

In an interview with Prensa Latina, Schmid said the program will support the work in 10 municipalities in the provinces of Camaguey, Las Tunas and Holguin (east of Cuba), to support agricultural activity in 87 institutions and companies with 10,000 associates in total.

The project will take four years to complete, with a budget of three million euros (2.178 million dollars).

OXFAM is a confederation of national associations supporting collaboration programs in 80 countries of the world. In Cuba, it will contribute to the knowledge of experiences, some of them applied in other nations, and at the same time, to spread Cuban experience.

Schmid said that Cuba's National Small Farmers Association (ANAP) will be in charge of the implementation of the project, together with the National Tropical Agriculture Investigation Institute (INIFAT).

Among the objectives, there is the support to cooperative production, a greater support to crops peaks, avoiding losses in cultivations and good processing of the fruits and vegetables.

Also, mechanisms to adjust local supplies with the use of cultivation surpluses should be improved, or created if there is not any.

The program will also support activities for the institutions give some other services, such as blacksmith, and not only to their associates but to the whole population, participation of women in agriculture and other tasks.