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Introduction
Prior to 1989, Cuban agriculture was based on large-scale, capital-intensive monoculture systems for export, and more than 90 percent of fertilizers and pesticides were imported. When trade relations with the socialist bloc collapsed in 1990, pesticides and fertilizers virtually disappeared, and the availability of petroleum for agriculture dropped by half. Food imports also fell by more than half. This crisis, called the Special Period in Cuba, catalyzed a shift away from production systems based on imported inputs of fuel, fertilizers, pesticides and high-tech equipment towards organic, low-capital, self-reliant farming systems.
Today, Cuba is moving towards food self-sufficiency, due in part to a thriving small-scale farm sector, widespread community and household gardens, and direct marketing networks. Cuban agricultural policy promotes ecologically sustainable production through soil conservation, organic soil inputs, biological pest control, and the reincorporation of rural and urban populations into agriculture. Cuba has dramatically restructuring agricultural production, distribution and marketing systems within an environmentally and socially sustainable framework.
Cuba may offer the very first large-scale test of sustainable agricultural production alternatives in action. In 2003, CSANR sponsored the Cuba Sustainable Agriculture Study Tour to observe what has worked and what has not worked in Cuba in regards to a wholesale conversion to sustainable agriculture practices. A delegation of 17 WSU faculty members and Washington agriculturists traveled to Cuba for a 10-day tour to study and learn about Cuban innovations in sustainable, organic and urban agriculture. The study tour of Cuban agriculture was scheduled to coincide with the 5th Conference on Organic Agriculture so that delegates could take advantage of the opportunity to attend this internationally recognized conference. Three WSU delegates presented papers at the Conference.
Cuba Sustainable Agriculture Study Tour, May 21–30, 2003
Cuba Photos (36 MB)
Cuba Talk Two (20 MB)
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Updated
February 4, 2004
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