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The greening of the “barrios”: Urban agriculture for food security in Cuba

Author

Listed:
  • Miguel Altieri
  • Nelso Companioni
  • Kristina Cañizares
  • Catherine Murphy
  • Peter Rosset
  • Martin Bourque
  • Clara Nicholls

Abstract

Urban agriculture in Cuba has rapidly become a significant source of fresh produce for the urban and suburban populations. A large number of urban gardens in Havana and other major cities have emerged as a grassroots movement in response to the crisis brought about by the loss of trade, with the collapse of the socialist bloc in 1989. These gardens are helping to stabilize the supply of fresh produce to Cuba's urban centers. During 1996, Havana's urban farms provided the city's urban population with 8,500 tons of agricultural produce, 4 million dozens of flowers, 7.5 million eggs, and 3,650 tons of meat. This system of urban agriculture, composed of about 8,000 gardens nationwide has been developed and managed along agroecological principles, which eliminate the use of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers, emphasizing diversification, recycling, and the use of local resources. This article explores the systems utilized by Cuba's urban farmers, and the impact that this movement has had on Cuban food security. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1999

Suggested Citation

  • Miguel Altieri & Nelso Companioni & Kristina Cañizares & Catherine Murphy & Peter Rosset & Martin Bourque & Clara Nicholls, 1999. "The greening of the “barrios”: Urban agriculture for food security in Cuba," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 16(2), pages 131-140, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:16:y:1999:i:2:p:131-140
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1007545304561
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Petit-Boix & Defne Apul, 2018. "From Cascade to Bottom-Up Ecosystem Services Model: How Does Social Cohesion Emerge from Urban Agriculture?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Luke Drake & Laura Lawson, 2015. "Results of a US and Canada community garden survey: shared challenges in garden management amid diverse geographical and organizational contexts," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 241-254, June.
    3. 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.
    4. Maria Susana Orta Ortiz & Davide Geneletti, 2018. "Assessing Mismatches in the Provision of Urban Ecosystem Services to Support Spatial Planning: A Case Study on Recreation and Food Supply in Havana, Cuba," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-21, June.
    5. Gordon M. Hickey & Nigel Unwin, 2020. "Addressing the triple burden of malnutrition in the time of COVID-19 and climate change in Small Island Developing States: what role for improved local food production?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(4), pages 831-835, August.
    6. Cristian Timmermann & Georges Félix, 2015. "Agroecology as a vehicle for contributive justice," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(3), pages 523-538, September.
    7. Colding, Johan & Barthel, Stephan, 2013. "The potential of ‘Urban Green Commons’ in the resilience building of cities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 156-166.
    8. Kathrin Specht & Rosemarie Siebert & Susanne Thomaier, 2016. "Perception and acceptance of agricultural production in and on urban buildings (ZFarming): a qualitative study from Berlin, Germany," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 753-769, December.
    9. Angga Dwiartama & Matthew Kelly & Jane Dixon, 2023. "Linking food security, food sovereignty and foodways in urban Southeast Asia: cases from Indonesia and Thailand," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(2), pages 505-517, April.
    10. Petra Matijevic, 2022. "Searching for the plot: narrative self-making and urban agriculture during the economic crisis in Slovenia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 301-314, March.
    11. Sylvie Nail, 2018. "Alimentar las Ciudades. Territorios, Actores, Relaciones," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Finanzas, Gobierno y Relaciones Internacionales, number 123, August.
    12. P. K. Amritha & P. P. Anil Kumar, 2019. "Productive landscapes as a sustainable organic waste management option in urban areas," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 709-726, April.
    13. Esther Sanyé-Mengual & Francesco Orsini & Giorgio Gianquinto, 2018. "Revisiting the Sustainability Concept of Urban Food Production from a Stakeholders’ Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-19, June.
    14. Ada Górna & Krzysztof Górny, 2021. "Singapore vs. the ‘Singapore of Africa’—Different Approaches to Managing Urban Agriculture," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-28, September.
    15. Borowy, Iris, 2011. "Similar but different: Health and economic crisis in 1990s Cuba and Russia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(9), pages 1489-1498, May.
    16. Esther Sanyé-Mengual & Isabelle Anguelovski & Jordi Oliver-Solà & Juan Montero & Joan Rieradevall, 2016. "Resolving differing stakeholder perceptions of urban rooftop farming in Mediterranean cities: promoting food production as a driver for innovative forms of urban agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(1), pages 101-120, March.
    17. Górna Ada & Górny Krzysztof, 2020. "Urban agriculture in Havana – evidence from empirical research," Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development, Sciendo, vol. 24(2), pages 85-93, April.
    18. Barthel, Stephan & Isendahl, Christian, 2013. "Urban gardens, agriculture, and water management: Sources of resilience for long-term food security in cities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 224-234.
    19. Gustav Cederlöf, 2016. "Low-carbon food supply: the ecological geography of Cuban urban agriculture and agroecological theory," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 771-784, December.

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