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When the Sugar Runs Out: Transitioning Agricultural Systems and Their Effect on Dietary Diversity in Yaguajay, Central Cuba

Author

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  • Victoria Constanza Ramenzoni

    (Department of Human Ecology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
    Center for Childhood Nutrition Research, New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA)

  • Vanessa Vázquez Sánchez

    (Museo Antropológico Montané, Universidad de La Habana, La Habana 10400, Cuba)

  • Diana Valdés Massó

    (Hospital Miguel Enríquez, La Habana 10700, Cuba)

  • Armando Rangel Rivero

    (Museo Antropológico Montané, Universidad de La Habana, La Habana 10400, Cuba)

  • Daily Yanetsy Borroto Escuela

    (Caguanes National Park, Simón Bolívar, Yaguajay 62100, Cuba)

  • Daniel J. Hoffman

    (Center for Childhood Nutrition Research, New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
    Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA)

Abstract

The past years have shown the widespread vulnerability of agro-food systems and rural diets to external perturbations such as wars, climate events, and pandemics. Experiencing numerous obstacles, Cuba constitutes an example of success in the transition to agroecological sustainability models. This article characterizes how processes of agricultural change, local development, and industrial degrowth have impacted food availability and dietary diversity among rural livelihoods in the municipality of Yaguajay, Sancti Spíritus, for the past forty years (1980s–2020s). It integrates findings from focus groups, repeated nutritional surveys, and interviews carried out between 2016 and 2022 among residents of the towns of Yaguajay and La Picadora. The goal is to identify effects and response strategies within agro-food systems of rural populations. Distinguishing between periods of abundance and shortage, our findings show two counterpoints: intensive sugar monocrop cultivation, which resulted in high dietary variety; and economic crises in the 1990s and during the last period of the pandemic, which have led to significant dietary adjustments. The article concludes by underscoring the importance of comprehensive assessments of dietary strategies to elicit what agroecological transitions mean for local realities and of the value of food consumption and small-holder production experiences to understand the limits to sustainable transformations.

Suggested Citation

  • Victoria Constanza Ramenzoni & Vanessa Vázquez Sánchez & Diana Valdés Massó & Armando Rangel Rivero & Daily Yanetsy Borroto Escuela & Daniel J. Hoffman, 2023. "When the Sugar Runs Out: Transitioning Agricultural Systems and Their Effect on Dietary Diversity in Yaguajay, Central Cuba," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-22, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:17:p:13073-:d:1228935
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eva-Marie Meemken & Matin Qaim, 2018. "Organic Agriculture, Food Security, and the Environment," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 39-63, October.
    2. Erin Nelson & Steffanie Scott & Judie Cukier & Ángel Galán, 2009. "Institutionalizing agroecology: successes and challenges in Cuba," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 26(3), pages 233-243, September.
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