Agroecology and the Struggle for Food Sovereignty ... - Yale University

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agroecology and the struggle for food sovereignty
Brooklyn, and Spanish Harlem, fresh vegetables are scarce and not always affordable.
Food from these gardens and CSAs can represent a large portion of a family’s source
of vegetables.
Strengthening Community Cohesion
The 1999 auction was a blessing in disguise for building social networks because of
the increased political and social organizing done by gardeners and their supporters
in response to this crisis. Gardeners solicited letters of support from communitybased
organizations, met with local politicians, and formed coalitions with other
community gardens in their districts, boroughs, and citywide. The garden coalitions
represent a social network that serves multiple purposes – from technical, material,
and labor exchanges to a space where members of the community can discuss any
issue at hand.
The Case of Havana, Cuba
Historically, Cuba’s economy has been based on exports, predominantly of sugar,
tobacco, and citrus. Since the majority of Cuba’s arable land was used for these export
crops, there was little left to grow crops for domestic consumption. Cubans depended
on food imports to feed their country. With the fall of the Soviet bloc in 1989, Cuba
fell into the worst economic crisis of its history. Cuba had depended on the former
Soviet Union and the socialist bloc countries for 85 percent of its imports, including
7 Sinclair, Minor and Martha food and agricultural inputs (Sinclair and Thompson 2001) 7 . The United States
Thompson (2001). “Cuba
embargo exacerbated the situation by severely limiting U.S. trading partners from
Going Against the Grain:
trading with Cuba. Cuba’s people found themselves isolated in the middle of an economic
and food crisis, forcing them to find solutions on their own.
Agricultural Crisis and
Transformation”. Boston:
Oxfam America.
Food imports had fallen by more than half, pesticide imports by 60 percent, fertilizers
by 77 percent, and petroleum by more than 50 percent (Funes et al. 2002). 8 Cuba
8 Funes, Fernando, M. Bourque,
L. García, N. Pérez, and P. was faced with having to alleviate the food crisis with practically no agricultural
Rosset (2002). Sustainable inputs for its predominantly conventional agriculture system. The response was a
Agriculture and Resistance:
national restructuring of agriculture, away from large-scale, high-input, monocrop
Transforming Food Production
in Cuba. Oakland: Food First
agriculture, toward small-scale polycultures based on agroecological principles
Books.
(Murphy 1998) 9 .
9 The creation of an urban agriculture system was a key component in building a
Murphy, Catherine (1998).
newly self-sufficient, sustainable food system, and in bringing consumers closer to
Cultivating Havana: Urban
Agriculture and Food Security producers. This effort was initially a grassroots response to food shortages, with
in the Years of Crisis. M.A. urban residents cultivating abandoned lots in the early 1990s. But soon the Cuban
Thesis, FLACSO/Cuba. La
government saw the potential that urban agriculture offered to alleviate the food
Habana.
crisis. Schools, institutions, and workplaces began producing food on their land.
10 Ibid. Urban gardens sprouted all over the capital city of Havana, mostly as home gardens,
at community centers, and in vacant lots.
However, many urban residents lacked the agriculture expertise needed to grow
food. In 1994 the Ministry of Agriculture created the Urban Agriculture Department
to provide technical and material support for these urban gardeners (Murphy 1998). 10
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