Day 9: Santiago de las vegas
Posted: May 25, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, urban agriculture | Tags: Allotments, Havana, huerta, INIFAT, organoponico, santiago de las vegas, urban agriculture Leave a comment »A quiet last day at INIFAT, we spent some time around the grounds, exploring all the bits we never saw, then a trip in the afternoon to see some nearby patios (plots), tended by some local people. They were similar to allotments, but just a couple of them on disused corner sites just a few streets away. The produce is for the owners, but any extra is sold on site at a wee stall. It was beautiful (as usual), green and luscious, well maintained and healthy plants. Some chairs in the shade and a vine covered archway that shaded the worm rich compost… heavenly.
We went back to the hotel for our last dinner – the food has been amazing. An interesting culinary experience that I must mention is the fruit puree pudding: a large ladleful of pureed mango, papaya or coconut served on a saucer. Delicious and very sweet, but it was a wee bit odd to us the first time we were served it as it wasn’t obvious what it was or whether there would be anything you were meant to eat it with. Last night however we had a variation – it was served with a slice of cheese! Turns out it’s quite common – and actually pretty tasty – I’m a fan of jam and cheese on toast anyway, so just a Cuban variation.
Day 8: Santiago de las vegas
Posted: May 25, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, urban agriculture | Tags: Cuba, fertilisers, huerta, organoponico, santiago de las vegas, soil, strategy, urban agriculture Leave a comment »Today was a day of presentations. This morning I was with Esmeralda, who I absolutely love, but am I bit scared of as well! she’s so animated and passionate, and obviously thinks that the more expressive she is the more I’ll understand – which I think it is true to a certain extent, but unfortunately no matter how hard I want to understand everything, there are huge chasms of miscomprehension – luckily however there are cameras and audio recorders, so I can revisit it all at home…
The session covered a lot of strategy and developments in urban agriculture. Their strategic framework is to:
1. provide appropriate incentives for people to produce more food (money/services or supplies)
2. effectively use all available urban land, with targeted programmes for each area and continuous assessment
3. allow for maximum diversity of species and plant varieties in each productive unit and to focus on creating fertile growing conditions
4. to raise the cultural awareness of urban agriculture, the level of nutrition and environmental standards through training, feedback and research.
5. closely coordinate the areas of research, teaching, production and services related to urban agriculture, but where the producer is the central figure.
There is a well developed support structure for farmers, from networks of seed farms, centres for organic fertilisers and training centres to specialised support surrounding artificial insemination of animals and centres dedicated to beneficial insect production. Esmeralda’s own area of expertise is about the important role of livestock in urban agriculture, where they produce protein, help maintain soil fertility and substrates and produce organic fertiliser by recycling left over produce.
In the afternoon I met Daniel Balmaseda who talked me through the pros and cons of organoponicos versus huertas. Basically organoponicos are raised bed systems (although they are often used to refer to any Cuban urban farm), whereas huertas are intensive gardens where you plant directly into the soil. Organoponicos are great where the soil is poor, or there is some contamination, as all organic matter is brought in from elsewhere. There are really clear guidelines for the ideal dimensions – for example to allow easy access from either side. The huertas are used where there is good soil, and the beds are similarly long and narrow. Presently there are far more huertas, covering 5 times the area of organoponicos, but they are less productive with an average annual yield of 12kg of produce per m2, compared to organoponicos at 21kg.
Afterwards we went out for more ice cream, this time an unspecified flavour which was somewhere between chocolate and cardboard box flavour. We sat in the local square and watched the world go by…
Day 7: Santiago de las vegas / Vivero Alamar
Posted: May 24, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, urban agriculture | Tags: Havana, organoponico, urban agriculture, vivero alamar 2 Comments »
Today was the biggie – a trip to Vivero Alamar on the western outskirts of Havana. This is the holy grail of Cuban urban agriculture, and somewhere I had heard a lot about. We went with the group of Mexicans who are doing a similar course which was quite a luxury as they had their own air conditioned bus! It was just as amazing as I had imagined, lush and verdant and simply overflowing with produce. Sitting in the shade of a leafy hut, we were heard about the history and context of the farm – from its humble beginnings in 1994 to the efficient farm that now employs over 140 people. Fresh produce is sold onsite, along with mulches, compost, worm humus and a selection of gorgeous plants. While we were sitting there it was great observing the very laid back Cuban-bustle of the farm – one man kept trundling past with a wheelbarrow which was filled with different veg each time, all beautifully arranged carrots and sweetcorn.
First point of call was the insect lab – a small hut filled with test tubes, microscopes and jars of bugs and beasties where they conduct their own trials, rather than send them away for analysis which apparently is very time consuming. They also seemed to be experimenting with the power of the pyramid – inside the hut there was a metal framed pyramid with a bottle of water in the centre – I’m aware that there is supposed to be great healing energy from these structures and that they have the ability to purify water, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to find out quite what they were doing (my spanish just couldn’t stretch to such a question).
The tour included the composting areas, rabbit cages, food preservation area where turmeric was being sliced and dried, herb drying, polytunnels and a demonstration of the ideal soil mix. It was the most lush and bountiful place, bursting with life and all the plants were incredibly healthy. There was a lot of companion planting, with the long organoponico beds edged with marigolds and herbs, and most work seemed to be utilising people power rather than tech power.
Day 6: Santiago de las vegas
Posted: May 12, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, urban agriculture | Tags: chamomile, Havana, santiago de las vegas, tornado Leave a comment »Oh dear, not a good night… I bit of a tummy upset to say the least. We were meant to visit a community food processing project in Marianao, but sadly I was feeling I wasn’t feeling up to it. Marisol brought me some manzanilla (chamomile) tea which everyone was agreed is very good for tummy problems – it was amazing and very, very strong. Two cups and I felt loads better. Just as we went out for a walk in the afternoon, it suddenly became dark and windy and started to absolutely pour with rain. We were mucking about in what felt like a hot shower, but we were soon ushered indoors to shelter from the first hurricane of the season – oops.
Day 5: Santiago de las Vegas
Posted: May 4, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, Uncategorized, urban agriculture | Tags: compost, Cuba, gardens, Havana, INIFAT, nursery, santiago de las vegas, seeds, soil, vermiculture Leave a comment »I met another tutor today, the lovely Alfredo Lino. He had a presentation to show me, but the classroom in the hotel that we had been using last week was full – a large group from Mexico had arrived yesterday for a similar course. We went instead to the main INIFAT building at the end of a long driveway of mighty palms. It’s a huge building with a lush garden and pond in the centre. After the intensity of the sun, the long marble clad corridors were dark and mysterious… loads of offices and bustle. It seemed there was some problem getting permission to use a computer, but eventually we made our way into a tiny back office where two women were sat at the single computer. They were none to chuffed about us using this one either, but Alfredo managed to persuade them. The lesson was about soil / compost production, including lombricultura (worm cultivation). Principles of organic agriculture, best materials to compost, how to make a worm bed and the issues surrounding organic certification in Cuba were all covered as well as the details of organoponico systems.
After lunch we went to a nearby nursery to see some of the theory in action. A few stops on the bus, down a lush and colourful lane (where I saw my first hummingbird, all shimmery incandescent green) to the most beautiful nursery. The greenhouses in Cuba are made to shade the sun and these ones were filled to bursting with seedlings, including tomatoes and peppers. A few people sat nearby transplanting trays, as everything is done by hand. Under the shade of some trees there were long raised beds of earth where the worms are cultivated and next to that a massive pile of rich compost that gets bagged up and sold in the tiendas. On the other side of the lane were more net shaded areas and organoponicos with such a rich mix of plants – ornamental, herbs, veg, fruit, trees, palms… I was given an ornamental plant as a present – as they are propogated by their leaves, I would be able to sneak a few back to Scotland in my rucksack – fingers crossed they root.x
Day 4: Expocuba and Botanical Gardens
Posted: May 1, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, urban agriculture | Tags: botanic gardens, expocuba, shopping Leave a comment »
Another day to explore, so this time we headed east to Expocuba and the Botanical Gardens. Expocuba was quite an experience… built in 1989 the site centres around a small fairground and murky lake, with various crumbling pavilions showcasing the best of Cuba. Unfortunately most of the exhibits were less than inspiring, apart from one made entirely of papier mache and cardboard. We also saw some local schoolchildren give a dance performance (they were amazing) and a magician was pulling in the crowds. We went on the pedal cycle track that ran round the fairground – raised about 20 feet off the ground – and which scared the bejeezus out of us because it was so rusty.
Across the road, the Botanical Gardens are vast. We took the wagon-pulled-by-a-tractor tour which wound up at the Japanese garden and El Bambu, a vegetarian buffet… mmm, delicious… The gardens cover about 600 hectares and house around 4000 species, but at this time of year the gardens are extremely dry and dusty. One section was signposted ‘Las Palmas’, which seemed a bit unnecessary since there were palms as far as the eye could see – though I’m sure it looks a lot different when the rain comes!
When we got back to Santiago, we went to the local shop for some juice (pesos not CUC), which is the type of shop you see everywhere – a bit like a portacabin with a long slim barred window running the length of the front. You queue up outside and look at the goods through the bars, which made it extra difficult for us to know what anything was since we couldn’t pick it up and examine it – for this luxury we would need to go to a shop that charges CUC and where everything is at least 10 times more expensive…
Day 3: Havana
Posted: May 1, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, urban agriculture | Tags: Cuba, Havana, shopping, travel 2 Comments »
Today was Saturday and a day off, so we took the bus into Havana to explore the city. Cuban buses have seemingly improved a lot since the days of the camels – modified Russian trucks, however it isn’t something I’d recommend to a claustrophobic. Very crowded and very hot and it took well over an hour to travel about 10 km, but there was plenty to see on the way; suburban farms, ice cream factories, crumbling sports stadiums, kids playing baseball, the famous old amaerican cars and the ubiquitous portraits of Che everywhere. We got off in Vedado and strolled down some leafy avenues, walked along the Malecon, explored old Havana, checked out the shops on ‘Cuba’s 5th avenue’, Obispo – which was a shock to the system for my teenage daughter: clothes shops have doormen to keep the regulate the numbers of shoppers, practically everything is behind glass and choices are extremely limited – and expensive. Even I would think twice about paying the prices they were asking, so I was wondering how the average Cuban manages. I soon had the chance to find out because we bumped into Jesus who works at INIFAT. We went for a drink and he told me about the problems he experienced as a young Cuban. He earns 15 CUC a month which he says he could easily spend in one day. Cuba has a dual economy with pesos used for essentials like electricity, some food, rent, travel etc., but most ‘luxury’ items needing CUC or Convertibles to purchase them. As a tourist, you mostly use CUC – just buying those drinks for the three of us cost me the equivalent of Jesus’s monthly wage. I was aware that as a Cuban it is very difficult to travel out with the country, but I didn’t realise that it is almost just as hard to travel within Cuba – never mind the cost, special permits or visas are needed too. On the other hand the country has almost full employment, homelessness is practically unheard of and education and health care is free for all (more about that later).
Day 2: Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba
Posted: April 30, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, urban agriculture | Tags: chicks, information, plants, seeds, support, tiendas Leave a comment »After a wonderful sleep and a hearty breakfast looking out over tropical flowers and palm trees, we met Marisol who specialises in agro-ecological soil management and fertility. She took us to visit a local Consultario Tienda Agropecuario – an agricultural consultory store. These tiendas came into being in the early nineties to meet the needs of a population who were trying to grow food to survive. They were created by the ministry of agriculture and originally were a place to swap seeds and knowledge, free of charge. Now they are self financing, with profits generated being used to pay workers wages and but in additional stock.
These specialised hubs support the development of urban agriculture through both their consultation services and sales of agricultural product (a bit of a cross between garden centres and Gardener’s Question Time – without Bob Flowerdew though). They sell a wide variety of seeds, plants (edible, medicinal and ornamental), bio fertilisers, bio pest control, books and leaflets, tools and some livestock. The advice they offer covers initial set up and building of gardens and organoponicos, control of pests and diseases, watering systems, pruning, worm culture… the list is extensive. When we arrived there were masses of baby chicks running amok – while I was given a tour, Freya busied herself with keeping the chicks under control as they all seemed intent on escaping. Even though the store was closed at the time, there was a great deal of interest in the chicks, with many people queing patiently for the store to open.
Afterwards Marisol took us to her home to meet her husband and son – they live a mile or so from INIFAT in a crumbling soviet apartment block. Her husband has worked in soil science for over 40 years and told us about his forthcoming trip to the US as part of an international group on soil classification. 
Day 1: Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba.
Posted: April 30, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, Uncategorized, urban agriculture | Tags: Cuba, Havana, INIFAT, organoponico, urban agriculture Leave a comment »Arrived late at night with my daughter and were united with our study visas, thanks to Maritza who had organised everything and who was there to take us to the teaching hotel at INIFAT (National Institute for fundamental research on tropical agriculture). The ride to Santiago was in a decrepit Lada that reeked of petrol in the hot humid night. When we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by a large group of 50-something men gathered around the tv watching the baseball quarter finals. We were shown to our room, filled with heavy wooden furniture, and told to show up at 9 the next morning for the first session…
I still didn’t really know what to expect, as I had only been emailed an outline of the programme before leaving, but it turned out to be a tailor made programme for me alone – and entirely in Spanish. The first session was an introduction to the programme, the institute and the professors who would be taking me under their wing for the next 10 days. I hadn’t slept at all with the jet lag, the heat and general nervousness and all the spanish I had been assiduously learning for the past 6 months completely deserted me when sat around the table with five spanish professors! My general confusion didn’t seem to faze them and they were all very encouraging in my feeble attempts to communicate in spanish – especially Esmeralda who is my mentor while at INIFAT. I was shown a presentation about the history and context of the institute. It began as an experimental station in 1904 and has grown to employ more than 500 people (half of whom are women). They grow a huge variety of fruit, vegetables and trees and aim to increase the production of food in a natural and sustainable way, and they spearheaded the National Urban Agricultural Programme The grounds are vast, and we took a stroll around the area immediately surrounding the hotel where they have a selection of trees and fruit (including mangoes, rolinea fruit, banyan trees and the national tree the Palma Real), plus a small area of organoponicos with salads and herbs.
The rest of the day was free, so we made good use of our time by exploring the small town (we’re about 10km from the centre of Havana) and finding the local branch or Coppelia’s ice cream parlour, where we ate scoops and scoops of rapidly melting strawberry ice cream.
view from our window
Rolinea
model of INIFAT and some of the grounds
the teaching hotel
organoponico no.1 - just out the back from the hotel
preparations
Posted: February 4, 2011 Filed under: cuba, food, participation, sustainability, Uncategorized, urban agriculture | Tags: Cuban Organic Support Group, exchange, Fernando Funes Monzote, Indio Hatuey, permaculture Leave a comment »
picture: www.organoponico.com
Last year I was lucky enough to receive the F&A Bradshaw travel scholarship to travel to Cuba and investigate urban agriculture and community gardening. I started planning in June, and now, two months before I go, I’m already immersed in Cuban culture. Last October I went to Manchester to meet respected Cuban agronomist Fernando Funes Monzote, and hear him talk about the changes, opportunities and threats to sustainable agriculture in his country.
When the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of the eighties, the special relationship they shared with Cuba came to a bitter end and the Cuban economy was plunged into free fall. Practically overnight they lost 80% of their import and export markets and oil imports dropped by half. Since then the country has faced seismic changes, not least in the way they have coped with extreme food shortages. (‘The Power of Community‘ is an informative and inspirational film which is a great introduction into this subject.) From a country once supported by large scale sugar plantations, imported food and petrochemicals, Cuba is now seen to be an inspiration in terms of innovative, organic, local, participatory food production. Their ‘artificial’ peak oil situation is one that many people are hoping to learn from in an age where, according to the European Union’s energy chief, availability of worldwide oil has already peaked. (I do recognise the irony of travelling 4500 miles to learn about minimising oil consumption by the way…)
During his talk, Fernando outlined three general trends since the ‘special period’:
from monoculture to diversification
from centralisation to decentralisation
from food imports to self sufficiency.
These three movements lead to greater efficiency, increased participation and better management of resources. They draw heavily on organic practices and permaculture, but are more interested in finding what works, rather than following a particular system or practice. Small scale farms are really efficient, producing 65% of the food on only 25% of the land. The government now prioritises food production and since 2008 has been redistributing land to small and medium size municipal and peri-urban farms. There are many support and education projects which deal with issues such as improving processing (which is a big problem), strengthening co-ops etc. There is also a strong farmer to farmer movement that facilitates the exchange of information and a healthy campesino movement. Trials have shown that it is possible to feed 25 people from 1 hectare of land – dividing the total hectares available in Cuba by the population gives a total of 1 hectare per 4. He spoke about the likelihood that Cuba already produces enough food, but the problem lies in the poor distribution systems, storage, processing and packaging.
Recent threats to the progress made come from the desire on the part of policy makers to industrialise (now that they have better access to oil once more), whether through technology or GM – the government recently authorised the first trial of GM maize.
I am deeply grateful to his help and advice recently with respect to my trip – and for attempting to understand my spanish emails! I cannot wait to visit his institution Indio Hatuey at the University of Matanzas and see it all first hand.
