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Farming Like We're Here to Stay : the Mixed Farming Alternative for Cuba

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Farming Like We're Here to Stay : the Mixed Farming Alternative for Cuba Farming like we’re here to stay The mixed farming alternative for Cuba Promotor: Prof. dr. ir. H. van Keulen Hoogleraar bij de leerstoelgroep Plantaardige Productiesystemen Wageningen Universiteit Co-promotor: Dr. ir. E.A. Lantinga Universitair hoofddocent bij de leerstoelgroep Biologische Landbouwsystemen Wageningen Universiteit Promotiecommissie: Prof. dr. ir. P.C. Struik (Wageningen Universiteit) Dr. ir. J.B. Schiere (La Ventana Consultancy, Bennekom) Dr. ir. J. Daane (ICRA, Wageningen) Dr. J. Wright (HDRA, UK) Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd binnen de C.T. de Wit onderzoekschool: Production Ecology and Resource Conservation. Farming like we’re here to stay The mixed farming alternative for Cuba Fernando R. Funes-Monzote Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit Prof. dr. M.J. Kropff in het openbaar te verdedigen op dinsdag 14 oktober 2008 des namiddags te 16:00 in de Aula Fernando R. Funes-Monzote (2008) Farming like we’re here to stay: The mixed farming alternative for Cuba Funes-Monzote, F.R. – [S.l.: s.n.]. Ill. PhD thesis Wageningen University. With summaries in English, Dutch and Spanish ISBN: 978-90-8504-979-1 To my mother –in memory– and to my father, for their everlasting example of integrity To Claudia To Diego and Fabio Most of the ideas contained in this thesis are the result of more than ten years of joint research with my mother, Dr. Marta Monzote. I had the pleasure to share with her, in her double role of mother and colleague, the most inspiring moments in my professional career thus far. I am honored to continue exploring our common research questions and societal concerns, with her memory as a pillar of strength within me. Abstract Specialization, as opposed to diversification, and export orientation have been historically the basis for patterns of dependence on external inputs and centralized decision-making in the Cuban agricultural model. Low autonomy in farmers’ decision- making (centrally-planned collective farms), scarcity of production inputs and extensive areas of abandoned land on the one hand, and increasing food imports on the other, are threatening sustainable development in the country. However, small farmers and an emergent sector of land tenants under a usufruct system are showing that food for the Cuban population can be produced efficiently and sustainably at home. These small-scale producers, cultivating about 25% of the available agricultural land, generate more than 65% of domestic food production, putting increasing pressure on the collective sector. Over the last 15 years, agro-biodiversity and food self-sufficiency have been officially recognized as drivers for increasing productivity and autonomy in decision making. The economic crisis that started in 1990 in Cuba had a strong negative impact on agriculture, but at the same time created conditions for emergence of a new model strongly based on principles of organic agriculture and agro-ecology. Various alternative systems, aimed at sustainable development, were developed during that period, but most of these lacked an integrative perspective on farming system development and followed an input substitution scheme in which high-input industrial practices were substituted by low input agro-ecological ones. Conversion from specialized (monoculture) farming systems into mixed (diversified) farming systems is considered by that model to be an effective step towards implementation of sustainable practices in agriculture. Thus, the current research is aimed at filling some of the conceptual, practical and methodological gaps that constrain a comprehensive transition from specialized dairy farming systems to mixed crop-livestock systems at farm and regional levels. For that purpose a methodological framework was tested for evaluating, monitoring, comparing, analysing and designing land use management strategies for the conversion of specialized dairy farming systems into mixed crop- livestock farming systems. Our results show that in comparing different systems, the issue is not simply one of high or low input, specialization or diversification, but that farming system-specific characteristics and the way in which inputs and agro-diversity are interrelated and managed also are at stake. We found that even in low external input agriculture, when comparing specialized and mixed farming systems, the latter achieved higher levels of food production and higher energy and protein production, as a result of more efficient use of natural resources available on farm (or locally). The unique position of the Cuban agricultural sector, both nationally and internationally, provides a context in which these results are highly relevant. High oil prices, climate change and high prices for food in the international markets, combined with national awareness of the necessity to substitute food imports for nationally grown food, as well as a recent government decision to make all unproductive land available for cultivation, open a wide spectrum of possibilities for adoption of alternative technologies. Diversification, decentralization, and movement towards food self-sufficiency are major trends in Cuban agriculture. However, these trends must be translated into systematic and consistent policies to ensure reliable and sustainable production, as well as agriculture’s contribution to a viable economy. Therefore, changes in Cuban agriculture should be driven by conscientious and scientifically-based policies. Keywords: Crop-livestock, agro-diversity, mixed farming, dairy production, agro- ecological indicators, sustainability, energy efficiency, local development, Cuba Preface Ten years ago, in September 1998, I came for the first time to Wageningen to participate in the 26th International Course on Dairy Farming in Rural Development. At that point I couldn’t imagine that two of the main organizers of the workshop ‘Mixed Farming Systems in Europe’, part of the APMinderhoudhoeve project, taking place the same year, prof. dr. ir. Herman Van Keulen and dr. ir. Egbert Lantinga, would guide me as supervisors through the process of my PhD completion. While participating in the course at the former International Agricultural Centre, a journalist from the local newspaper interviewed me and published this article below. Ecological self-sufficiency best way forward for Cuba1 “Cuba is on the brink of a major economic transition. Now is the critical moment to set a plan of action for an alternative agriculture.” Agronomist Fernando Funes from the Cuban Association of Organic Agriculture (ACAO) believes his country should continue along the road towards ecological self-sufficiency. “A mistake that Cuba has made in the past is to allow itself to depend too heavily on external inputs for its food security.” So concludes Fernando Funes, whose country has been hampered by a severe economic and food security crisis since 1990 when its main trading partner, the Soviet Union, dissolved. This loss came on top of the already existing trade embargo imposed since the 1960s by Cuba’s powerful neighbour the United States. The scale of the Cuban ecological agriculture alternative is unusual, according to PhD student Julia Wright, who is analysing the ecological movement in Cuba for her research at the WAU. “Being internationally isolated has compelled Cuba to make inroads on ecological agriculture in a way not seen elsewhere”, explains… … ACAO is also an unusual agriculture network, Wright finds, because it has targeted researches right from the start to work together with farmers. Funes has been involved with ACAO since its inception, and now sits on the seven-member executive board, in charge of international relations as well as documentation. The network includes over 900 members and its aims include redesigning Cuban agriculture on a more sustainable basis, to create an ecological certification system, and to raise awareness among the population to the possibilities and advantages of ecological agriculture. The ACAO, along with other Cuban institutes, has been 1 Extracts from the interview by journalist Amunda Salm appeared in: Wub, No. 34, 1998. p. 6. conducting experiments on 17 farms over the last three years, to investigate the possibilities of integrating crop and livestock systems as promoted by ecological agriculture… Funes hopes to continue this research to investigate trends over a longer term for a PhD in Wageningen. For Funes, these developments are a race against time. There are many reasons to believe that Cuba is now on the brink of a major economic transition. A recent vote by the United Nations showed a record level of support from 92% of its members to end the trade embargo against Cuba. “If ACAO can prove the benefits of a self-sufficient ecological model before international markets open up again, then support will already be in place for choosing an alternative path instead of going back to the old model of external input-dependent conventional production”, Funes maintains. It is satisfying to see that ten years later, most of the ideas contained in this interview are finally part of the Cuban official political agenda. This thesis is about progress and failures, but it is also a call for further changes in the Cuban agricultural sector. Reflecting on these 15 years of transition, the greatest gain from this period is that Cubans have started to think more in terms of innovation and change. Many of us involved in Cuban agriculture today have been inspired to concertedly and consciously promote
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