According to Food Monitor, of the 2,400 respondents, 42.2% spend their entire salary on food and 21% suffer from food insecurity.
14ymedio, Havana, 31 May 2025 — The NGO Food Monitor Program described the food situation in Cuba as “alarming” and progressively declining on Friday during the presentation of a survey that places the proportion of the population suffering from food insecurity at 21%. According to the study, presented virtually, “there is a widespread shortage of all types of food products,” but the shortages are also compounded by prolonged daily power outages, difficulties with the water supply, and a sharp loss of purchasing power due to high inflation.
Given the current state of the meat industry, it’s not surprising that 7.1% of those surveyed said they never eat meat, and 19.3% said they could afford to eat it once a week. Last February, after ten months of inspections and raids against cattle rustlers in Cuba’s fields, the Ministry of Agriculture offered an overall result for the beef sector: 2,914,009 cows remain on the island. The figure is disastrous for a country that ten years ago had nearly four million cows, and which before 1959—with a population of six million—boasted almost one cow per person.
The pork and poultry industries are following suit. Just a week ago, authorities acknowledged that by the end of 2024, due to a lack of feed and food, some 120,000 chickens would be lost in Sancti Spíritus alone . Since then, both chicken meat and egg production have plummeted, only receiving relief when a Brazilian company and a Cuban SME prevented the food from disappearing completely from the provincial market.
According to the Food Monitor report, another 9.8% of respondents say they never eat vegetables.
According to the Food Monitor report, another 9.8% of respondents say they never eat vegetables, and 40.5% emphasize that they never consume dairy products. Likewise, 55.1% say they eat three meals a day, 29% say they eat two, 11.9% say they eat “more than three,” and 4% limit themselves to one. Furthermore, 24.6% said that some days they didn’t have enough food and went to bed hungry.
The shortage of basic supplies and foodstuffs, practically exclusive to dollar stores and with prohibitive prices, has led nearly 72% of those surveyed to change their diet and the recipes they usually prepare. Nearly the same number, 71.2%, report having suffered dietary problems due to power outages in the last three months.
With respect to the water supply, 38.9% say they have intermittent access to drinking water, 34% say they have access to it every day, and 24.7% say they have access to it “rarely,” according to the third annual edition of this study. Water has been another of the major headaches for Cubans in recent years, a situation that has been worsening and, in recent weeks has reached critical levels, due in part to the drought and in part, to obsolete supply systems. The Zaza Dam, the largest in the country which supplies water to several central provinces, reported at the end of May that its levels were at a worrying 12%, a record for that month in recent years.
Some 42.2% of respondents said they spend all their income on food, followed by those who spend up to 80% of their income (36.7%), those who spend up to 50% (17.4%), and those who spend up to 30%, just 3.6% of the population.
The study, titled “There is Hunger in Cuba 2024” and involving 2,400 participants, reported that 60.9% of Cubans believe they have suffered a “considerable” loss of purchasing power, while 31.1% maintain that their income has been “somewhat limited.”
60.9% of Cubans believe they have suffered a “considerable” loss of purchasing power.
Regarding state-run grocery stores (bodegas), the most common in Cuba, 88.9% considered the selection to be “incomplete” or “deficient,” and 74.6% rated the quality of the products as “regular” or “terrible.”
This issue became a source of controversy this week, when residents of Ciego de Ávila complained about the size of the bread sold at the La Especial grocery store in the city. After an inspection, authorities found that the establishment was selling rolls weighing between 35 and 42 grams, half and two-thirds, respectively, of the 60 grams each unit should weigh.
Of those interviewed by Food Monitor, 84.9% also stated that the ration book supply “decreases in quantity and quality every year,” and 96.6% emphasized that this subsidized food supply system does not meet their needs. Respondents identified “poor state administration” (64.1%) and “hoarding/corruption” (26.2%) as the main causes of food shortages in Cuba. Only 8% cited “the US embargo” as the cause of the shortages.
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