Cuba reforms turn to state land

[dipsydoodle]

Cuba is to put more state-controlled farm land into private hands, in a move to increase the island's lagging food production.

Private farmers who do well will be able to increase their holdings by up to 99 acres (40 hectares) for a 10-year period that can be renewed.

Until now, private farmers have only been able to run small areas of land.

The BBC's Michael Voss, in Havana, says this is one of President Raul Castro's most significant reforms to date.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7514519.stm

Timely reminder for everyone to get a copy of this and watch it : http://www.powerofcommunity.org/cm/index.php

[Judi Lynn]

1. The sooner the rest of us learn to do these things as well, we'll be far, far better off for it!

Some great photos were taken in Venezuela by a DU'er who shared them here a year or two ago. They have learned the Cuban agroponico plan and have implemented them within their cities:



Cuba’s Urban Farming Program a Stunning Success
by Michael Levenston


With Food Prices Soaring, Cuba’s Urban Farms Could be a Model for the World

Niko Price, Associated Press
June 9, 2008
Photo by Javier Galeano/

http://www.cityfarmer.info/category/cuba/

[Judi Lynn]

2. Speaking of Venezuela's move to incorporate organoponicos within their cities:

Caracas, Venezuela Embraces City Gardening for Improved Nutrition, Jobs
by Michael Levenston



Photo: Urban farm located in central Caracas, Venezuelan next to the Hilton Hotel.

http://www.cityfarmer.info/caracas-venezuela-embraces-city-gardening-for-improved-nutrition-jobs/#more-89

~~~~~~~~~~r
Gardening for the poor
4 000 vegetable gardens flourish in Caracas

~snip~
South helping south

Anastasio Capote, 60, is one of 45 Cuban technicians who have come to Caracas for two years to reveal the mysteries of a farming system based on a mix of soil, organic material and manure. From the windows of the downtown hotel where all the technicians live, he can see at least one result of his team's efforts: a half-hectare vegetable garden bursting with fresh produce, with pests controlled naturally through insect-repelling plants such as basil and marigolds.

"The main idea of this plot was to have a beautiful garden in central Caracas, so all kinds of people could see it and start planting their own vegetable gardens," he says. "In Cuba, 300 000 people practise this farming system; they eat the vegetables and sell some on the side - all without government subsidy."

One of FAO's roles as a UN agency is to facilitate south-south cooperation. In Venezuela, a technician from Senegal who had launched a microgarden project in Dakar came to Caracas for six weeks to pass on his expertise. Senegal had learned about microgardens in the first place from an expert from Colombia, Venezuela's neighbour, under an earlier FAO project.

Back at FAO headquarters in Rome, a small horticulture unit develops guidelines and standards for urban agriculture. Although FAO does not have the resources to send staff to set up programmes in every developing country that wants to grow food in its cities, it can act as a catalyst.

More:
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/field/2004/37627/article_37647en.html

[AlphaCentauri]

5. That looks very organic food n/t

[killbotfactory]

3. Aren't these "private" farms mostly worker co-ops?

From the BBC and the US news coverage you would think they are selling farm land to Archer Daniels Midland or something.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Will check on it. I believe fairly recently, some years ago, maybe around the time the Russians left

the State started allowing farmers to own small pieces of land.

Can't remember. I'll check on it later. Gotta take off now, will get back to it.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Does this help? It explains what happened after the Russians stopped doing business with Cuba.

(You may recall that one of the conditions of the end of hostilities between the USSR and the US was the agreement Reagan demanded that the USSR cut Cuba loose immediately! Well, Cuba's still there, although someone's gone. I can't remember who it is!)

Organic Cuba without Fossil Fuels

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Rural agroecology and land restructuring

~snip~
In 1993, the Cuban government unveiled a major reorganization of agriculture, restructuring state farms as private cooperatives. The new farms, which now make up the largest sector in Cuba agriculture) were called UBPCs or Basic Units of Cooperative Production, based on a growing perception that smaller farms would be more easily managed and better able to take on the sustainable agriculture practices.

The state retains ownership of the land, leasing it on a long-term basis, but rent-free. The cooperative, not the state, owns the production, and the members’ earnings are based on their share of the cooperative’s income. The UBPC also owns buildings and farm equipment, purchased from the government at discount prices with long-term, low interest loans (4 percent). Most UBPCs produce sugar at given quotas, limiting any other crops that they might produce, so they have little to sell in agricultural markets, which restricts their options and income.

In addition to the UBPCs, the break up of large state farms has freed large plots of land for other use, and land has been turned over to both private farmers and agricultural cooperatives.

Small farmers working on privately owned farms and in cooperatives have made major contributions to the successful implementation of agroecology in the countryside.

Agricultural Production Cooperatives (CPAs) were first created 20 to 30 years ago by farmers who chose to pool their land and resources to attain greater production and marketing and economic efficiency. Although the CPAs were of minimal importance then, they began to rebound in the early 1990s. The UBPCs were modelled after them, except that farmers in the CPAs owned their land.

The Credit and Service Cooperative (CCS) is an association of small landowners joining up with other small farmers to receive credit and services from state agencies. They may also share machinery and equipment, and thus are able to take advantage of economies of scale. CCS members purchase inputs and sell products at fixed prices through state agencies, based on production plans and contracts established with the state distribution system. Any production above and beyond the contracted quantity may be sold in farmers’ markets at free market prices. These small farmers have been the most productive sector in Cuban agriculture, outperforming both the CPAs and UBPCs. CCS farmers have higher incomes than members of other cooperatives.

While all farmers continue to sell a percentage of their produce to the state marketing board, farmers are now motivated to produce in excess of their agreed quota, which they can sell to agricultural markets, often at twice the contracted government price. They can triple or quadruple their income.

More:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/OrganicCubawithoutFossilFuels.php