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Organic Farming in Cuba
By Alex Schutz
Sixteenth Century to 1989
Since the sixteenth century, Cuba had grown mainly specialty crops such as tobacco and sugar. Using most of
the available land for crops to export, this left little space to grow crops to feed Cuban citizens.
Farming such as this led Cuba to be very dependent on importing food for its citizens. Between 50-57% of food
consumed by Cubans was imported. While the revolutionary government did not want to be so dependent on
outside sources, this trend continued until 1989 when the Soviet Union collapsed. After the collapse it
was reported that 1,300,000 tons of chemical fertilizers, 17,000 tons of herbicides, and 10, 000 tons of pesticides
were not longer being imported. This was a devastating blow to what was already a country struggling to feed
its people.
1989 to Present Day
By 1993-94 the shortage of food from lack of foreign support was pushing the orphaned country towards
starvation. The government decided something had to be done. Taking underused city plots, the government
sold them to the private sector to be used as vegetable gardens, making 80% of the farmlands privatized.
Without the industrial methods available to grow the crops, alternative means needed to be taken. This lead
to an organic revolution and a return to traditional Cuban methods of farming which would hopefully remedy
the food supply problems by increasing production.
Classical Model vs. Alternative Model
Cuba had been using up to the fall of the Soviet Union what is referred to as the "Classical Model" of modern
agriculture imposed after the revolution of 1959. This model focused on growing crops that were not native to
Cuba, and therefore need to have the seeds imported. High amounts of mechanization was needed to care for
these crops, thus chemicals and gas to run them were also needed to be imported. All this machinery that was
needed and non-native crops caused the soil to erode and lose nutrients. With all this unnatural activity
going on, the soil was contaminated, pests and crop diseases became resistant to the chemical pesticides, and
the future productivity of the crop was jeopardized. It is said that this method was not fit for Cuba, but
was forced on them by European powers who wanted the specialty crops and would give aid if their conditions
were met. This left Cuba as a "middle man" in that they received supplies, grew the crops, and sold them off.
Cuba was very dependant on outside countries for its very survival under the "Classical Model".
The "Alternative Model", which was implemented after the fall of the USSR and is still being used to today,
is a more ecologically friendly model. It brought back traditional Cuban means of farming and made use of
all available land. Instead of growing crops for export, crops are now grown for use within the country to
feed its citizens. Machines and chemicals are no longer used. Natural means such as crop rotation [crops
are planted a few seasons and then the plot is vacant for a few], bio pest control [natural predators and
natural strains of bacteria], soil conservation, and biofertilzers [manure and compost] are used which do
not harm humans or the environment. This model also brought farming back to to rural communities, while the
"Classical Model" drove people to the city. The "Alternative Model" was soon feeding the entire nation of
Cuba.
The Future
Some speculate that organic farming is only a temporary solution. That it is a "band-aid" that will tide over
Cuba until trade agreements can be met and it can return to the "Classical Model" of agriculture. This seems
ignorant seeing as how production has and continues to sky rocket and Cuba has become a fully self sufficient supplier of produce. Going back to the old methods would put the country in the same position of being overly dependent on outside markets for its survival. Not to mention that the organic way of farming is much safer for the environment and cheaper by using naturally accruing plants and crop enhancers [pesticides and fertilizers] as well as returning to traditional Cuban methods. The low costs of organic farming has allowed more Cubans to get fresh produce as a opposed only the upper classes in the agricultural state. Plus, organic farmer has brought together the nation of Cuba through community gardens. There still are some problems that organic farming has yet to remedy. Although crops are plentiful, other resources are still being rationed and are highly price. One example is fresh milk is only available to children under seven years of age (news.bbc.co.uk). This is one problem that organic farming may not have an impact on, but the methods have solved the food supply problem enough that every one
has produce. Through time, however, methods may be developed to help increase these commodities so that the
masses may have them affordable and easily available. Cuba went from starving to producing an abundance of
produce, so there is a way of curbing starvation.
