Lessons of complexity

Kathy Riley welcomes a detailed description and analysis of the reactions of the Cuban agricultural system to the changes of the 1990s.

Cuba's organic agricultural responses to the changes of the 1990s have long been a topic of debate in the Western media. There has, however, been a significant absence of well-researched and detailed analysis of the changes which took place over that decade. Julia Wright's book goes a long way towards addressing that absence.

Wright begins by placing the reader within the context of fears of oil scarcity, rising fuel prices, and current 'peak oil' scenarios taking place around the world. Within this she signals various possible responses to oil scarcity, highlighting a specific ideal response model of sustainable, organic agriculture.

From the second chapter the book focuses on agriculture in Cuba, from its historical pre-colonial roots through to recent changes under new leadership. Chapters Five and onwards are dedicated to a detailed examination of Cuban agriculture during the 1990s. The most publicised aspect of Cuban organic agriculture has been the urban organics plots and gardens. Wright demonstrates how the State's approach to urban organic agriculture has been characterised both by response to people's own experiments with organic technology, and by top-down implementation of organic policies (such as the organopónicos). In general, experiences of urban organic agriculture have been positive, although Wright reports wild variances in the literature about the percentage of fruit and vegetables supplied through these methods.

Crucially, Wright makes the distinction between urban organic agriculture and the national farming systems in Cuba. Whilst the former has been (and remains) predominantly organic in conception and development, national farming systems are characterised by the prioritisation of yields - and fears about the possibility of lower organic yields. Wright makes it clear that while organic approaches may have appeared before the crisis of the 1990s, it was only on the back of chronic fuel shortages that they came to the fore.

A key contribution of this volume is the dual focus on state implementation alongside an analysis of the actual diversity of farmer practices. For example, Wright is able to identify the ideological importance of continued (small) fuel supplies for farmers to be able to feel that the situation is going to improve. She is also able to report that Cuban farmers link higher yields under the organic systems with changes in land tenure and farm organisation, which is an important step in understanding the complexity of Cuba's successful re-establishment of its food system.

Wright's book is subtitled "Lessons from Cuba", and that is very much what the reader gains. Among these lessons are: the importance of research as the basis for organic agricultural development in Cuba; farmer participation in the research process; the existence of an organisation to coordinate all food related questions; and above all, "firm political commitment to prioritise basic food rights" (p. 239).

At points in her book Wright makes claims which require further justification, evidence or examination, and a somewhat more meticulous approach would have been beneficial. As with so much writing on Cuba, this work risks becoming outdated before it is printed, and it would certainly be interesting to consider Wright's work alongside recent Cuban work concerning agricultural experiences during the 1990s. Her style also suffers from a lack of fluency, which at times detracts from the otherwise valuable contribution made.

Agriculture, like many other areas of Cuban life and politics, is characterised by change, adaptation and diversity. As Wright draws out the complex proliferation of government policies alongside farmer interpretations and inventions, it becomes clear that the Cuban approach is not one of blind determination, but of reflection and reaction. However, problems remain in the Cuban organic approach, which is, as she points out, still highly dependent on fuel. Wright cites the pervasiveness of the industrial farming mindset as a significant obstacle, with its embedded fears about organic methods meaning shortages (for example, in yields), and the fear of losing control (for example, over pests). Wider reflection on Cuban society would reveal that this 'industrial mindset' runs deep in Cuban thinking at both governmental and at local levels, with 'development' in all its guises strongly associated with modern methods and technologies. Within this context it seems all the more striking that Cuban policy has pushed the bounds of conventional agriculture so far.

Kathy Riley is a Doctor of Social Anthropology, and a researcher at the New Economics Foundation, London, UK.

Copyright

Copyright for this work is held jointly between Kathy Riley and the International Journal of Cuban Studies under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative 3.0 Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

IJCS Volume 2 Issue 1 June 2009