A female leader under the Cuban sun in La Juventud
In 2017, Lesvia became the Cuban face of the regional communication campaign Rural women, women with rights, promoted by FAO to give an account of the fundamental role that women play in sustainable rural development.
Lesvia Calderón can be seen among the paths that divide the pools of the aquaculture company La Juventud.
Tall, powerful, very serious, she walks under a wide umbrella with which she protects herself from the Cuban sun, while she supervises the team that is in charge of the newborn tilapia, fish that she grows in Paso Real, in the province of Pinar del Río .
Lesvia heads the area in charge of making the young fish gain weight and size in the tilapia farm La Juventud, recognized for being the best of its kind in Cuba: only in 2016, the farm produced 298 tons of fish.
She is also one of the leaders of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project that promotes the genetic improvement of freshwater fish in Cuba. The project – run with a gender perspective – is helping to close the gaps that exist between men and women in the aquaculture sector of the island.
The project has had great impact, allowing the participants to achieve high productions of fish: “In Cuba, approximately six tons of fish are produced per hectare. In La Juventud, thanks to the use of genetic improvement techniques, we reach almost thirteen tons per hectare and we do it with more quality, because that increase has to do with a higher weight gain of the specimens”.