By Sarah Murch
BBC Two's Future of Food
Climate change, drought, population growth - they could all threaten
future food supplies. But global agriculture, with its dependence on
fuel and fertilisers is also highly vulnerable to an oil shortage, as
Cuba found out 20 years ago.
Around Cuba's capital Havana, it is quite remarkable how often you see a
neatly tended plot of land right in the heart of the city.
Sometimes smack bang between tower block estates or next door to the
crumbling colonial houses, fresh fruit and vegetables are growing in
abundance.
Some of the plots are small - just a few rows of lettuces and radishes
being grown in an old parking space.
Other plots are much larger - the size of several football pitches.
Usually they have a stall next to them to sell the produce at relatively
low prices to local people.
Twenty years ago, Cuban agriculture looked very different. Between 1960
and 1989, a national policy of intensive specialised agriculture
radically transformed Cuban farming into high-input mono-culture in
which tobacco, sugar, and other cash crops were grown on large state farms.
Cuba exchanged its abundant produce for cheap, imported subsidised oil
from the old Eastern Bloc. In fact, oil was so cheap, Cuba pursued a
highly industrialised fuel-thirsty form of agriculture - not so
different from the kind of farming we see in much of the West today.
But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the oil supply rapidly dried
up, and, almost overnight, Cuba faced a major food crisis. Already
affected by a US trade embargo, Cuba by necessity had to go back to
basics to survive - rediscovering low-input self-reliant farming.
City allotments
With no petrol for tractors, oxen had to plough the land. With no
oil-based fertilizers or pesticides, farmers had to turn to natural and
organic replacements.
Today, about 300,000 oxen work on farms across the country and there are
now more than 200 biological control centres which produce a whole host
of biological agents in fungi, bacteria and beneficial insects.
Havana has almost 200 urban allotments - known as organiponicos -
providing four million tons of vegetables every year - helping the
country to become 90% self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables.
Alamo Organiponico is one of the larger co-operatives employing 170
people, which was built on a former rubbish-tip that produces 240 tons
of vegetables a year.
There are a wide range of crops planted side by side and brightly
coloured marigolds at the edges.
"We produce all different kinds of vegetables," says farmer Emilio
Andres who is proud of the fact that his allotment feeds the local
community.
"We sell to the people, the school, the hospital, also to the restaurant
and the hotel too.
"It's important because it's grown in the city, it's fresh food for the
people, it's healthy food, and it provides jobs for the people here too.
"We don't spray any chemicals. We only spray biological means like
bastilos - a bacteria and fungus to kill the pests. And we use repellent
plants like marigolds to keep away the pests.
"When I see all of these healthy crops, without too many pests, grown
without any chemicals, it's amazing for me - I am making a contribution
for the people that get healthy crops, healthy products."
Healthy diet
The organiponico uses raised beds filled with about 50% high-quality
organic material (such as manure), 25% composted waste such as rice
husks and coffee bean shells, and 25% soil.
" A Western diet includes about three times as much food energy from
animal products like meat and dairy "
As well as marigolds, basil and neem trees are planted around the
containers to keep the aphids and beetles at bay. Sunflowers and corn
are also planted around the beds to attract beneficial insects such as
lady bugs and lace wings. Sticky paper or plastic funnel-shaped bottles
are positioned throughout the beds to trap harmful pests that do get
into the garden.
And the methods work. Lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, squash, sweet
potatoes, spinach herbs and many other crops are grown in huge
quantities and sold cheaply. Mangoes are 2 pence (3 US cents) a pound.
Black beans 15p (25 cents) and plantain, just 12p (20 cents).
At the time of the oil shock, average calorie consumption in Cuba
dropped by a third to dangerously low levels. Since then they have
bounced back and Cubans eat just a little less than people in the UK.
The biggest difference is that a Western diet includes about three times
as much food energy from animal products like meat and dairy.
The Cuban diet is much less fatty and requires less fuel to produce. A
far less varied diet than in the West, it is also much healthier. The
standard lunch for the farm workers is black beans, potatoes and rice.
Cuban agricultural researcher, Fernando Funes reckons the rest of the
world has something to learn from the Cuban agricultural story.
"Well, do you have oil forever? And there also other considerations like
global warming, nature conservation... the conventional way of farming
generates a lot of damage to the environment and to human health.
"Developed countries as well as developing countries should pay a lot of
attention to this kind of agriculture which takes care of land, people,
environment and is also efficient and productive. You can combine both."
Find out more on BBC Two's Future of Food, Mondays 17, 24 & 31 August,
at 2100 BST. All three episodes will also be available in the UK on
.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8213617.stm
Published: 2009/08/22 23:20:16 GMT
No comments:
Post a Comment