Cuban students work in agriculture to compensate for the shortage of farmers

The first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party in Pinar del Río, Yamili Ramos Cordero, urged young people and students to participate in agricultural activities, to compensate for working the land, state media Juventud Rebelde reported. .

“The leader of the party in the region said, “Youth must be the spearhead in food production, which is the region’s priority at the present time, in addition to rebuilding homes.” a report.

In this regard, the Director of the Urban, Suburban and Family Agriculture Program in Pinar del Río, Lerida María Sánchez Díaz, recognized the “contribution” of students, especially in urban agriculture, to compensate for the shortage of agricultural workers in the region. boycott. .

“The work of the students was essential, helping to solve the problem of workforce shortage in the province,” Sánchez Diaz admitted.

Labor shortage in Cuban fields

Will the so-called “rural schools” return to Cuba? Although the practice of sending high school students to labor camps for a month or 45 days of the course to carry out agricultural tasks is believed to have disappeared, statements by the Pinar del Río Board of Directors show that it still continues in a certain way.

In the aforementioned official report, Sánchez Díaz did not specify how long the students worked to compensate for the labor force shortage in Pinar del Río’s agriculture, nor whether they received any pay for their work.

It also did not clarify whether these agricultural tasks were compulsory, as happened in so-called rural schools, nor whether the students resided in camps.

But the truth is that agricultural work is one of the labor sectors most affected by the migration crisis that Cuba has been experiencing since 2021. In addition, the low salaries that workers in the sector receive also stimulate an exodus towards other, better options, away from work. . rural.