InterPress Service
January 22, 2002
By Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Jan 22 (IPS) - Urban farming in Cuba is booming, promoted by the government with the support of United Nations agencies and other international institutions to provide city residents with fresh, organic produce and to create a new source of jobs.

Growing crops or raising small livestock on empty lots and other unused portions of land in the city took off in the 1990s, in the midst of the economic crisis triggered by the break-up of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the east European socialist bloc.

In yards, vacant lots, terraces and even barrels and buckets, people began to grow crops, raise small livestock or keep dairy cows to meet their own needs for food in response to the new shortages, or for sale in private farmers' markets that were legalised in 1994.

Cuba's lingering decade-long economic crisis, marked by scarcity of food, fuel, transportation and other services, along with the high concentration of the population in urban areas, forced this Caribbean island nation to put an emphasis on less costly forms of production, distribution and marketing of foodstuffs.

Among the virtues of urban agriculture as practiced in Cuba, experts point to the use of organic compost and mulch instead of chemical fertilisers, biological pest control methods instead of chemical pesticides, and other green-friendly techniques.

Empty lots that became garbage dumps in the 1990s due to fuel shortages that made it difficult to haul away trash now boast some of the nicest gardens in Havana.

"This was an abandoned lot full of rubble when we received it," Georgina P,rez, 63, told IPS. The retired high school teacher works one of the nearly 30 plots into which a lot located on the westside of Havana was split up.

P,rez, who knew little or nothing about working the land when she began, proudly shows off her crops, which include yucca, sweet potatoes, bananas and other fresh produce.

The retired teacher and several dozen other local residents farming the small plots founded a horticulturist club in 1992. Their main aim is to produce food for private consumption, although many sell their surplus crops in the local farmers' markets.

"We are around 40 families who benefit from this initiative, and our products also help support a nearby childcare centre and a school for orphans," said P,rez, the head of the community organisation, eight of whose members are women.

P,rez admitted that when she set out on her new venture, she knew nothing about farming, and did not even enjoy eating vegetables. "I didn't even like tomatoes," she laughed.

Ten years on, the retired teacher has even given workshops on urban farming, and waxes enthusiastic when she talks about a project financed by the British-based humanitarian relief organisation Oxfam.

With a budget of 26,000 dollars, the Oxfam programme will help local horticulturists improve their irrigation systems, build a locale for marketing their products and set up a small factory for making preserves, said P,rez.

Women account for approximately 20 percent of the urban farming workforce and 30 percent of the technical support for such endeavours, although only 11 percent hold managerial-level or supervisory posts.

Urban gardens now cover 12 percent of the territory of the city of Havana. More than 22,000 people are involved in farming initiatives in the capital, which provide between 150 and 300 grams a day of fresh produce and herbs to each of the city's 2.2 million people.

The revival of urban gardening traditions, in which around 300,000 people participate in this country of 11 million, is strategically important, say experts.

"The capital hardly produced any food, and depended on foodstuffs brought in from nearby provinces as well as imports" from abroad, said Santiago Rodr!guez Calder"n, a researcher with the University of Havana's Centre of Studies on the Cuban Economy.

The emergence of urban farming has contributed to "food security" for the local population, he added.

In an article on city gardens, Rodr!guez Calder"n recognised, however, that despite the steady rise in local production, the dietary needs of Havana residents are "still far" from being fully satisfied.

The expert estimated that urban garden plots produced over 130,000 tons of food crops in 2000, compared to the 44,000 tons registered in 1994.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recommends daily consumption of 300 grams of fresh produce per person to guarantee the vitamins and minerals necessary to good health.

Last year, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) contributed 200,000 dollars to a project for growing fresh produce in Cuba's five easternmost provinces - Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin, Las Tunas and Granma.

After Hurricane Michelle swept through this Caribbean island nation in early November, causing an estimated 1.8 billion dollars in damages, the UNDP added another 100,000 dollars to that sum to purchase seeds for crops with a short growing cycle.

Local authorities hope to replace the crops destroyed by the storm with fast-growing produce.

The UNDP has reported that urban gardens have become a means of subsistence in a large part of the world, a phenomenon closely linked to the growth of the urban population. According to the UN agency, by 2025 the number of people living in the world's cities will have climbed to 5.5 billion, from 2.4 billion in 1990.

In Cuba, of a total population of 11.038 million in 1996, 8.256 million lived in urban areas and 2.781 million in the countryside.