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Cuba's green vision has been taken up in other Latin American countries |
People power, permaculture and Cuba’s green revolution
A means of organic farming has increased national prosperity and saved people from starvation – maybe it’s an innovation we should adopt, writes Dr Derek Wall
ON Thursday (September 4), the Cuban green activist Roberto Perez will kick off his UK tour with a Green Left rally at Bolivar Hall, hosted by the Venezuelan Embassy.
If you don’t know Bolivar Hall, it’s at 54 Grafton Street, near Warren Street Tube. And in case you are busy on Thursday, Perez is speaking at meetings up and down Britain throughout September and October.
Cuba was forced to go green in the 1990s when the cheap supplies of oil it was receiving were cut off after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The country provides an interesting example of how to reduce dependency on oil and Roberto Perez has been at the forefront of the changes it has made.
Cuba has worked hard to generate energy through renewables. Schools in rural areas in particular get their energy from solar panels. Recently, a wind map has been produced for the whole island and wind turbines are springing up.
However, perhaps the most important part of Cuba’s true green revolution is agricultural.
Permaculture, a special form of organic farming, was introduced in Cuba during the 1990s. Organic farming is important because the pesticides it uses are not based on oil.
Permaculture, developed by the Australian writer Bill Mollison, uses ecological principles to minimise energy and labour inputs and to maximise output. The method uses tree crops and mulches to avoid the need for labour-intensive digging. Another principle of permaculture is companion planting, where inter-cropping of different plants is used to reduce pests and increase fertility. Composting is vital. Worm bins are used to turn waste into natural fertilizers and mulches.
Talk to almost anyone who visited Havana in the 1990s and they’ll say the city exploded with gardeners. Today, roof tops and the smallest scraps of land are used to grow food. It quite literally stopped people from starving and Havana is virtually self-sufficient in fresh fruit and vegetables. So rather than low carbon solutions leading to a lower standard of living, permaculture has actually increased prosperity for Cubans.
In Britain, we farm intensively, get our over-packaged food from the supermarkets and have our fruit shipped half way across the globe. With permaculture, we could grow far more, eat better and cut energy bills.
Cuba’s green vision has been taken up in Venezuela and other Latin American economies because ecological economics, particularly in the form of organic agriculture, makes sense.
Monty Don made an exciting BBC programme on Cuba’s permaculture gardening which you can find on www.youtube.com
“It’s an inspiration, it’s beautiful”, proclaims Monty Don.
He has argued that we need this model in Britain, noting: “You have to become a rabble. One should scare them and pressure them, and subvert the system from the ground up.”
Roberto Perez can be seen on the Dvd The Power of Community. He is touring Britain to spread the word. As well as the Green Left event on September 4, Perez will be talking at other events across Britain.
Details of his tour can be found via the Permaculture Association who brought him over at www.permaculture.org.uk
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