Cuba passes new Agricultural and Forest Land Law

Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power approved the Law of Agricultural and Forest Land, presented by Agriculture Minister Ydael Pérez Brito. The legislation consolidates two decree laws and 20 auxiliary norms, updating rules on possession, ownership, inheritance, usufruct and limiting private landholding to 67.10 hectares. It preserves the principle that land belongs to those who work it, prohibits concentration of land, and reinforces the legacy of the earlier Agrarian Reform Law.

The law was drafted after an extensive consultative process that began in 2022, involving a 53‑member working group, more than 300 in‑person participants and over 19,000 digital respondents, with 6,941 exchanges. Technical assistance came from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and comparative legal studies were carried out across Latin America, the Caribbean, China and Vietnam. It aims to create a secure environment for investment in land, expand rights for peasants, cooperatives and private or mixed enterprises, and allow foreign participation in agricultural, agrotourism and ecotourism projects.