Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance: Transforming Food Production in Cuba

Co-published by Food First Books and ACTAF (Cuban Association of Agricultural and Forestry Technicians) and CEAS (Center for the Study of Sustainable Agriculture, Agrarian University of Havana)

Description

This is a story of resistance against all odds, of Cuba’s remarkable recovery from a food crisis brought on by the collapse of trade relations with the former Socialist Bloc and the tightening of the US trade embargo. Unable to import either food or materials needed for conventional agriculture, Cuba turned inward to self-reliance. Sustainable agriculture, organic farming, urban gardens, smaller farms, animal traction, and biological pest control are all part of the new Cuban agriculture. In this book, Cuban authors offer details of these remarkable achievements to serve as guideposts toward healthier, more environmentally friendly and self-reliant farming.

Cuba’s remarkable recovery from a food crisis brought on by the collapse of trade relations with the former Socialist Bloc and the tightening of the US trade embargo came about by the use of sustainable agriculture, organic farming, urban gardens, smaller farms, animal traction, and biological pest control. In Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance: Transforming Food Production in Cuba, Cuban authors offer details—for the first time in English—of these remarkable achievements, to serve as guideposts toward healthier, more environmentally friendly and self-reliant farming.

Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance: Transforming Food Production in Cuba is the story of Cuba’s achievements in the use sustainable agriculture, organic farming, urban gardens, smaller farms, animal traction, and biological pest control to feed the country.

Paperback: 340 pages, illustrated, ISBN 0-935028-87-0

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Praise for Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance

“To understand Cuban agricultural development we must first look at the richness of detail in this volume. Then we have to step back and squint to capture the truly novel pathway of development that Cuba is pioneering. And then once again we have to focus in on the details, and glimpse the processes through which Cuba is creating something truly new and hopeful for all of humanity. ”

—from the epilogue by Professor Richard Levins, Harvard University School of Public Health

“The Cuban experience has demonstrated that the adoption of agroecological methods can bring about productive and economic benefits in a socially equitable manner. The advances achieved by Cuba…offer a valuable set of lessons for the millions of people throughout the world who are committed to a truly sustainable agriculture.”

—from the prologue by Professor Miguel Altieri, Environmental Studies, University of California at Berkeley

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