Agroecology, the Interaction between Agriculture and Environment: An Example from Cuba

Abstract

Living in the Amazon it was unavoidable to observe the problem emerged from the high level of burnings in the rain forest this year of 2019: the tension that exists between agriculture and environmental conservation was on focus every day. Some farmers , very much interested in profiting with the plantation of soybean revealed no care for the preservation of the forest. On the hand, many small farmers just thought the opposite: the need to preserve the forest and keep producing food. In fact, many Amazonian people, not only Amerindians, believe that it is possible to balance the needs of rural people to utilise natural resources to eat and earn an income and at the same time to protect the forest or the environment in general So, environmental cost may be minimized, not increased, with agricultural activity . Future generations depend on the continent’s vast forests and watersheds remaining intact in the Amazon as in the whole world. In this study we address the benefit of thinking on Agroecology. The city of Havana, Cuba is an example which we will explorehere, regarding its benefits relating to Agroecology, production and distribution after the 1989 socialist crisis and the economic blockade. The crisis resulting from the embargo imposed by the United States was aggravated by the socialist crisis in Eurasia, a context in which the social movement of urban agriculture emerged, with Havana being the main locus. We can understand urban and peri-urban agriculture as the social agricultural movement developed in urban and peri-urban spaces by small farmers, aiming at subsistence and/or commercialization. Through sustainable practices, production demonstrates success in generating jobs and income, food security and sovereignty. The production, technical assistance and sales outlets are growing steadily – which corroborates the urban agriculture movement, supported by the government via an ecological andefficient low-cost agricultural policy and combining traditional knowledge with cutting-edge technology as the key to success.