Cuba
Food Security

World Food Program:

Cuba, with a population of a little over 11 million people, imports about 80% of its domestic food requirements. A number of measures are being taken to increase food production, chief among which is the allocation of fallow land to private individuals and groups, as well as the reduction of the amount of land devoted to sugar cane cultivation, but the country’s vulnerability to hurricanes and droughts, coupled with the increase in global food prices and the financial crisis, makes the path to national food security difficult. The eastern region of Cuba – encompassing the provinces of Guantánamo, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Las Tunas, Holguín, and Camagüey — is the most vulnerable to food insecurity. Cuba’s education and health system are admirable and have put the country well on the path to achievement of four of the eight MDGs. The main public health problem is anaemia, with a prevalence in the east of 56.7% among children under the age of 24 months and 20,1% amongst those between the ages of 2 and 5. There are a number of reasons for this, the main ones being: i) inadequate food intake; ii) parasitic or infectious diseases; iii) dearth of iron-rich food; iv) difficulties in access to food; v) insufficient knowledge of anemia; vi) inadequate use of dietary supplements; vii) deficiencies in water and sanitation; y viii) inadequate hygiene practices, which inhibits iron absorption.
Collapse and Revival
In 1989, as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent retraction of petroleum, farm equipment, food subsidies, and the preferential trade relationship that had come with Soviet support of the Cuban state, the country lapsed into a phase of dire food, energy, and morale shortages, known as the "Special Period" or periodo especial.
Cuba had been under the thumb of various colonial empires from Spain and the United States since the 16th century. The Soviet Union, during its phase of supporting Cuba, continued with a system that encouraged the production of sugar and tobacco for foreign markets, leaving little land for food production. In 1989, however, no one came to scoop up the Caribbean island and ladle in more subsidies, and the Cubans felt a new sense of excision from the global market.
Cubans from all walks of life suffered during this period; shortages were reminiscent of war time, though the country was diplomatically at peace. The crisis was worsened by the tightening of the U.S. trade embargo through two pieces of legislation in 1992 and 1996, zapping any possibility of Cuba looking outside its boundaries for assistance — except to a few friendly governments like Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The agricultural model inherited from the 1980s was not a particularly advantageous one. Farming in Cuba before the Special Period was characterized by large quantities of chemical inputs in a highly mono cultural and intensive system. In this period, Cuban farms had been using roughly 200 kilograms of nitrates per hectare. Without the Soviets delivering these expensive inputs at subsidized rates, Cuban farmers and average hungry citizens had no choice but to look to alternative models in developing a new agricultural system.
After 10 years of hard work and major food shortages, most Cubans can feel secure in having access to fresh, nutritious food through the extensive network of intensively cultivated urban gardens, or organoponicos, and state-run farms and cooperatives outside the cities. They can also take comfort in the fact that nearly all the food they eat comes from a self-sufficient agricultural system that relies only minimally on pesticides, fertilizers, or expensive machinery.
Given the highly restrictive nature of the U.S. embargo on trade with and from Cuba, the Cubans have been forced to virtually sink or swim in terms of procuring or growing food. Because of the terms of the trade sanctions, Cuba has been ineligible to receive food aid from international aid agencies.
Peter Rosset, co-director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy based in Oakland, Calif., has been researching food issues in Cuba since the early 1990s. He said, "Cuba has resisted three things: the blockade of the U.S. embargo, the fallout of the Soviet Union, and the industrial green revolution and economic globalization that has taken its toll elsewhere in the world."
Fortunately, with a combination of solid scientific expertise and institutional will, Cuba was able to replace conventional farming practices with more practical and affordable alternatives. By charting new courses in research, land management, and market supply, government officials and scientists were able to avert a full hunger crisis and activate farmers and urban citizens to dedicate themselves to meeting food demands.
Key ingredients in the new agricultural model are the urban agriculture movement; traditional farming techniques like composting and intercropping (growing two crops together that benefit each other by warding off particular pests); new nontoxic bio pesticides and bio fertilizers; worker-managed collectives; quotas for farmers to insure adequate supply for the whole country; and opening farmers' markets where excess food crops can be sold by farmers for profit.
The government also addressed land availability for domestic food production by redistributing parcels of land that had formerly operated as cane plantations for the sugar industry, which exchanged its products for oil from the Soviet Union. Each of these initiatives has created a fertile environment for technological innovation in organic production and economic incentives that encourage more people to farm.
According to Rosset, "Cuba has been able to change farming techniques in order to survive, but it has been an on-going process of institutionalizing the farming alternatives."
Throughout the past decade, government agencies like the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Education, and Communication have been developing increasingly coordinated efforts to integrate agricultural extension education, nutrition education, and outreach to the Cuban people. The government has committed to make fresh fruits and vegetables available to every citizen, but so far, they haven't quite managed to do this. Cuban authorities say that at this point, availability is not so much of an issue. Instead, they are now working on ways to bring down the prices so that even the poorest consumers can enjoy the bounty.
Urban Agriculture on the Rise
Cuba's commitment to sustainable farming practices demonstrates how huge improvements in food production can be achieved even under stressful economic and environmental conditions. Urban agriculture has played an integral role in achieving food security, and Cuba is at the vanguard of the global urban agriculture movement. In 2002, Cuba produced 3.2 million tons of food in urban farms and gardens.
In 2002, more than 35,000 hectares (86,450 acres) of urban land were dedicated to the intensive production of fresh fruits, vegetables, and spices. According to Dr. Nelso Campanioni Concepción, deputy director of the National Institute for Fundamental Research on Tropical Agriculture (INIFAT), "The goal of urban agriculture is to gain the most food from every square meter of available space. The secret to the success of urban agriculture in Cuba has been the introduction of new technologies and varieties and an increase in areas farmed."
Another factor favouring urban agriculture is that Cuba does not have the transport infrastructure — especially since the Soviets stopped delivering fuel — to deliver large quantities of food from rural areas to the cities on a regular basis. This means that urban residents benefit not only from feeding themselves but also by guaranteeing the freshness of their daily sustenance.
Extra food is shared in the community. Retirement home and hospital kitchens receive anywhere from a steady supply to seasonal, fluctuating donations from neighbourhood gardens. These gardens, coupled with the comprehensive rural and suburban farms, play a critical role in completing the sense of food security that Cubans now enjoy.

Oxfam on CUBA food security