(Translator's note: a hectare is equal to 2.471 acres.)
Havana-Cuba's agriculture is well-positioned to bring more products to the organic market, states representatives of the German firm, BCS.
For the first time Cuba will start exporting packaged organic foods, starting soon with brands of coffee and honey, according to information learned during a meeting in Havana with Peter Grosch, general manager of the independent organic certification company Bio Control System (BCS, and Doctor Alberto Bahamonde, the German firm's Cuban representative.
The world's food consumption patterns are changing. The market for ecologically sound products continues to grow. Due to its current agricultural and livestock production practices, Cuba can quickly insert itself into this market, stated Grosch and Bahamonde.
In North America, consumers spend $13 billion for organically pure foods; in Europe more than $12 billion and in Japan some $700 million. In the wake of diseases being transmitted to humans by animals raised improperly, such as is the case with "Mad Cow Disease," people are rejecting products offered by fast-food chains, processed foods, and those with origins that raise questions about their effect on human health.
WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR THE CUBAN MARKET The transformation initiated in the 1990's from an intensive to a sustainable model—after the interruption of trade with the old suppliers of resources of the formerly socialist East Europe—made it possible for Cuban agricultural producers to introduce more accessible technologies to ecologically sound production. These methods are based on biological approaches to fertilization and crop protection, as well as changes in the soil preparation, in order to rely less on equipment that damages arable soil. Even though the economic crisis pushed Cuba to change its model of production from intensive to sustainable practices, since the 1980's the island had already been working on a battery of biological methods to guarantee the use of biopesticides and the biological control of disease. Producing vegetables and raising livestock in the outskirts of the cities with sustainable methods is an increasingly growing practice in Cuba. Urban agriculture, by reason of being in the city, cannot contaminate the surroundings.
Cuban export of organic products debuted with sales of coffee, cocoa, tropical and citrus fruit, and honey. However, until now these sales had been limited to bulk. The possibility of augmenting the offerings with added value are very good, states Mr. Grosch.
The general manager of BCS stated that his company has already certified as organic 7,000 hectares in Cuba, from which 1,500 tons of organic produce has already been obtained. Additionally, 460 hives have also been certified and have produced 900 tons of honey.
Polls taken internationally indicate that families are changing their consumption habits and are tending to consume healthier foods. Although organic products are more expensive, those population centers with a higher educational level prefer to eat more fruits and vegetables and are rejecting the dairy and meat staples of the family diet.
Within Europe, Italy takes first place in the amount of land dedicated to organic methods—more than 1.2 million hectares—due in some measure to the fact that Italian producers receive incentives for using organic methods. In Germany more than 650 thousand hectares are dedicated to organic farming.
In Austria, 15% of farmland is under ecological systems; in Denmark 10%; and Sweden 8%. The information offered by Mr. Grosch in some cases doesn't always use the same unit of measure. For example, the registries of countries like Switzerland and France are given in numbers of farms, where they report 3,500 and 7,000 respectively.
But the world leader is Australia, which has more than 7.5 million hectares dedicated to organic production. In Latin America, Argentina heads the list with more than 2.5 million hectares, followed by the Dominican Republic where more than 18,000 producers dedicated themselves to organic production. Other countries making incursions into this market are Ecuador, Honduras, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and El Salvador, which together have registered more than 2,000 producers of organic agriculture. According to BCS, more than 2,700 Cuban agricultural producers have been identified as organic. The company's stamp of approval backs exports to the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Union.
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