Cuba's Organic Revolution

Abstract

Cuba's political and economic isolation have weaned the island nation from chemical-intensive agriculture. The Cuban revolution of 1959, which brought Fidel Castro to power, is considered to be the seminal moment in the modern history of the island. But the revolution begun in 1989, with the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, is an equally significant, if much quieter, event. During the early 1960s, as the United States tried unsuccessfully to crush the new, revolutionary spirit of Cuba with the most far-reaching trade embargo in history, Castro's Cuba had to forge powerful links with the Soviet bloc to survive. And for some 30 years, the support Cuba received from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) helped to create the most well-developed island in the Caribbean. By 1989, Cuba ranked 11th in the world in the Overseas Development Council's Physical Quality of Life Index--which includes infant mortality, literacy, and life expectancy--while the United States ranked 15th. [1] The help Cuba received came in many forms--the Soviets bought Cuban sugar, for example, at over five times the market rate and sold it discounted oil that was then re-exported. For 30 years, from 1959 to 1989, 85 percent of Cuba's trade was with the Soviet bloc. The Soviet Collapse But in 1989, the Soviet system began to unravel. Imports dropped overall by 75 percent and oil imports by 53 percent. Known officially by the Castro regime as the Special Period in Time of Peace, this moment in Cuba's history saw it slide close to the edge of collapse, as all aspects of life were affected by the crumbling of its international market. The most significant impact was on food. Some 57 percent of Cuba's caloric intake was imported, and it was estimated that the population relied on other countries for over 80 percent of all their protein and fats. [2] The Soviet collapse also led directly to an 80 percent reduction in fertilizer and pesticide imports. Prior to 1989, most of Cuba's intensive agriculture depended on these imports--their disappearance was thus a disaster for its agricultural system. [3] America's Grip Tightens The situation was exacerbated by the implementation in 1992 of the United States' punitive Cuba Democracy Act, which tightened its existing trade embargo, and further in 1996 with the signing of the satirically titled Cuba Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act--the Helms Burton Act. On top of an embargo that prevents any American or American-friendly industries from selling food or medicine to Cuba, upon pain of sanctions or legal action, the Helms-Burton Act is a deliberate attempt to stifle the re growth of the Cuban economy, by deterring foreign investment. U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, one of the creators of the act, is remarkably honest about its overall aim-replacing Castro's government by one favored by the United States. Let this be the year Cubans say farewell to Fidel, he said as the act was passed in the Senate. I don't care whether Fidel leaves vertically or horizontally, but he's leaving. For a less resourceful and determined nation than Cuba, such action by the world's only superpower could have spelled disaster. But rather than roll over and die, Cuba began to foment a new revolution. The nation responded to the crisis with a restructuring of agriculture. It began a transformation from conventional, high-input, monocrop intensive agriculture, to smaller organic and semi-organic farms. Urban Agriculture As oil imports crashed, Cubans looked for ways to reduce their dependency on it. In agriculture, this meant reducing transportation, refrigeration, and storage costs by locating agricultural production closer to the cities. Havana has some 20 percent of Cuba's population and, at 2.5 million people, is the largest city in the Caribbean. Feeding its population was obviously a priority. Urban agriculture was one of the solutions. …