Environ Dev Sustain (2010) 12:763775

DOI 10.1007/s10668-009-9223-2

Sustainable agriculture in Canada and Cuba:

a comparison
Vanmala Hiranandani

Received: 13 May 2009 / Accepted: 22 November 2009 / Published online: 10 December 2009
Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

Abstract Agriculture-related discussions in climate change research have been largely

focused on the effects of a changing environment on agriculture and the possible consequences for global and regional food security. However, from a policy standpoint, it is also
essential to address the impact of agriculture and related activities on environmental
change. Over the last 50 years, most of the worlds agriculture has transitioned into
industrial agriculture that requires greater inputs of fossil-fuel energy, water, synthetic
pesticides and fertilizers, which have created substantial harmful effects on air, soil, water
and biodiversity. Sustainable farming that uses less chemicals and fossil-fuel energy and
emphasizes localized production and consumption has come to be viewed as an ecofriendly alternative to modern agriculture. This paper will examine the concept of sustainable agriculture and compare and contrast its practice in Canada and Cuba. The paper
will conclude with lessons that the two countries can learn from each other.
Keywords Sustainable agriculture Organic farming Urban gardens
Community-supported agriculture Canada Cuba

1 Introduction
Over the last 50 years, most of the worlds agriculture has transitioned into industrial
agriculture with machines replacing human and animal power for preparing soil, planting,
weeding and harvesting crops. Industrial agriculture, with its focus on increasing crop
yields, has introduced new crop varieties that require greater inputs of fossil-fuel energy,
water, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers compared to traditional varieties (Picone and Van
Tassel 2002 ).
Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication
of this issue.
V. Hiranandani (&)
Center for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies, SNDT Womens University,
Juhu Campus, Juhu Tara Road, Santacruz (West), Mumbai 400 049, India
e-mail: vanmala_hi@yahoo.com

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While these transformations have generated unprecedented increases in world food

production, modern agriculture has created substantial harmful effects on air, soil, water
and biodiversity (Kimbrell
2002 ; Maynard and Nault
2005 ; Miller and Hackett
2008 ).
Industrial agriculture uses about 8% of the worlds oil output (Miller and Hackett
2008 )
and contributes 1732% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it one of the largest
polluting sectors (Greenpeace International
2008 ). Large-scale food processing and
transportation over long distances use fossil fuels, fuelwood, and refrigerants and generate
enormous wastes (Chen
1990 ). Factory-like agriculture makes indiscriminate use of cancer-causing chemical pesticides and fertilizers that contaminates soil and water and
destroys vital resources for storing carbon, such as forests and other vegetation (Greenpeace International
2008 ; Kimbrell 2002 ; Vallianatos 2006 ). Industrial farming is controlled mainly by large-scale agribusinesses that tend to grow single crops with high yields
(called monocultures) to maximum market values (Shiva
1993 ). This leads to a loss of
biodiversity and naturally occurring genetic variation that have acted as buffers against
diseases and environmental changes for centuries. Recent focus on the threat of climate
change has been largely limited to the effects of a changing environment on agriculture and
the possible consequences for global and regional food security. However, from a policy
standpoint, it is also essential to understand the ways and extent to which agricultural and
related activities contribute to environmental change (Chen
1990 ).
Given the huge ecological footprint of industrial agriculture, environmentalists have
advocated better management practices, such as sustainable agriculture, which emphasizes
farming practices that protect soil, water and biodiversity. Yet, despite the harmful effects
of energy- and chemical-intensive agriculture, about 80% of the worlds food supply is still
produced by industrialized agriculture and 20% by environmentally friendly agriculture.
Sustainable agriculture such as organic farming, integrated pest management and polycultures can be surprisingly productive; however, most ongoing research continues to be on
high-input industrial agriculture (Szirmai
2005 ). Sustainable farming uses less chemicals
and fossil-fuel energy and employs marketing practices that reduce the distance between
production and consumption locations (Ritchie
1994 ). Sustainable farming has come to be
viewed as an eco-friendly alternative to modern agriculture (ex. Barker
2007 ; Greenpeace
International 2008 ; Pretty 1994 , 2002 ; Rosset 2000 ; Vallianatos 2006 ).
This paper will examine the concept of sustainable agriculture, its practice in Canada
and Cuba, and its effectiveness. The objectives of this essay are (1) to describe the extent,
forms and key policies in uencing sustainable farming practices in Canada and Cuba and
(2) to compare and contrast sustainable agriculture in Canada and Cuba and examine its
effectiveness in the two countries.

2 Sustainable farming: an alternative to industrial agriculture

The concept of sustainable agriculture does not lend itself to a precise definition because it
encompasses ways of thinking and farming practices that are shaped by peoples beliefs
and values (Perlas 1995 ; Schaller 1993 ). At best, sustainable agriculture has been loosely
defined as agricultural technologies and practices that maximize the productivity of the
land while seeking to minimize damage both to valued natural assets (soils, water, air and
biodiversity) and to human health (farmers and other rural people, and consumers) (Pretty
2002 , p. 171). It seeks to minimize the use of non-renewable inputs (fossil fuels, chemical
pesticides and fertilizers) that degrade the environment. It engages peoples capacities to

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work together to solve common management problems, such as pest, water-shed, irrigation, forest and credit management (Pretty
2002 ).
Unlike industrial agriculture, the sustainable approach is multifunctionalit not only
produces food, but also contributes to various public goods such as clean water, wildlife,
carbon sequestration in soils and biodiversity. It also prevents ruralurban migration that
leads to environmental degradation in urban areas. Sustainable agriculture encompasses a
wide range of technologies and practices including water harvesting, soil and water conservation, rotational grazing, crop rotation, composting, using livestock and farmyard
manures, irrigation scheduling and management, restoration of degraded or abandoned
land, urban agriculture, integrated pest management, polyculture and organic farming.
(Miller and Hackett 2008 ; Pretty 2002 ). Water harvesting involves simple technologies to
channel and store rainfall that was previously poorly used or wasted. Rotational grazing
improves the use and productivity of pastures, while irrigation scheduling entails using
water more efficiently. Integrated pest management relies on natural predators to control
pests as well as biopesticides (products derived from plants, fungi and bacteria); thereby
reducing chemical pesticides. Polycultures, in contrast to industrial farmings monocultures, involve planting multiple crops that enhances biodiversity and eliminates the need
for pesticides by promoting multiple habitats for natural predators of crop-eating insects
(Picone and Van tassel
2002 ). Organic farming is a variant of sustainable agriculture that
uses little or no chemical pesticides and fertilizers (Miller and Hackett
2008 ).
It has been argued that without chemical inputs, farms may be less productive, and thus
more native forests and grasslands would have to be converted to agricultural lands
(Szirmai 2005 ). Most evidence, however, points the other way. Studies show using sustainable methods actually increases crop yields by as much as 60% (Goodall et al.
2005 ;
Madeley 2002 ). For instance, since 1989, Cuba reduced its use of pesticides and fertilizers
from 80 to 60 percent, but it produces more food now than it did in the 1980s (Picone and
Van Tassel 2002 ). Sustainable agriculture has challenged the assumption of high productivity of industrial agriculture by proving to be more productive and ecologically sound.

3 Sustainable agriculture in Canada

Agriculture is a significant part of the Canadian economy: in 2004, agri-food exports
amounted to $24 billion and agriculture contributed 12% to the countrys gross domestic
product (Maynard and Nault
2005 ). Recent decades have seen an increasing concentration
of agriculture in the hands of a few agribusinesses. About 2% of farms now produce 35%
of the food in Canada (Maynard and Nault
2005 ). Goodall et al. ( 2005 , p. 39) informed that
when a country allows agribusinesses to take over numerous small farmers in favor of
commercially profitable monocultures, biodiversity suffers and the entire system becomes
vulnerable to pests and diseases. Moreover, Canadian agriculture largely uses the industrial
approach that is responsible for 10% of the countrys greenhouse gas emissions (Canada
NewsWire 2008 ).
Currently, organic farming is used on less than 1.5% of cropland in Canada (Miller and
Hackett 2008 ). Canadian consumption of organic products remains modest, about 12% of
total food consumption, but it is growing steadily at a rate of 20% a year (Forge
2004 ).
Canada is the only industrialized country without a major agricultural conservation policy
(Maynard and Nault 2005 ). Historically, Canadian government has invested considerable
resources in ensuring economic performance of the agricultural sector. Canadian farm
policy for the past 100 years was directed at crop insurance and farm credit programs with

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the overall objective that the nation was well fed. These successful programs, along with
the advent of the green revolution, resulted in post-World War II surpluses and a marketorientation toward domestic consumers and exports. Success for farmers, especially within
the sustainability framework, has traditionally not received as much attention (Lefebvre
and Strain 2006 ; Maynard and Nault
2005 ).
It is only in the last 20 years that increasing concern has been expressed for the
environmental impact of agriculture, thereby introducing soil and water protection policies,
environmental farm plans and nutrient management plans. Farmers, governments and other
stakeholders in Canadian agricultural industry have become increasingly cognizant of the
need to integrate environmental factors into farm policies. In 1993, Agriculture and AgriFood Canada (AAFC) began to develop a set of agri-environmental indicators (AEIs)
specific to the agriculture and agri-food sector to assess how well agriculture and agri-food
systems manage and conserve natural resources and how compatible they are with the
natural systems and processes in the broader environment. In recent years, this scientific
monitoring has proven very useful for agricultural policy analysis, for example, to assess
possible greenhouse gas containment strategies (Lefebvre and Strain
2006 ). Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canadas 20072009 Strategy for Sustainable Development integrates subprograms on biodiversity, soil protection, water use and quality, and development of agrienvironmental indicators into Canadas Agricultural Policy Framework (Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada 2006 ; Janzen et al.
1998 ). The Canadian strategy views sustainable
development to encompass economic, environmental and social factors without privileging
any particular aspect. The Canadian strategy for sustainable development for 20072009
aims to integrate these three pillars of sustainable agriculture. The report emphasizes that
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada recognizes the importance of sustainable agriculture,
whose goal is not only to value and protect the environment and to safeguard the health and
well-being of Canadians but also to help the industry prosper economically. Maynard and
Nault ( 2005 ) and Strang ( 2006 ) observe that government support for sustainable agriculture in Canada has been marred due to lobbying by profit-motivated agribusiness interests
and the perceived con ict between environmental and economic performance of
agriculture.
Moreover, in recent years, trade treaties such as North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) have compelled the Canadian government to loosen its regulations on pesticides
and food irradiation. Besides, NAFTA has virtually eliminated government spending on
ecological activities such as forest replanting and wetlands protection. Canadas National
Farmers Union warned that NAFTA threatens the survival of diverse genetic materials,
thereby endangering food security over the long run (Barker
2007). Agriculture has also
become increasingly concentrated in few big players. About 2% of farms now produce
35% of the food (Maynard and Nault
2005 ). Goodall et al. (
2005 ) inform when agribusinesses take over small farmers in favor of commercially profitable monocultures,
biodiversity suffers making the entire system vulnerable.
Amidst these changing circumstances, Canadas grassroots movement toward sustainable agriculture is noteworthy. Canadas sustainable agriculture movement began in the
early 1950s with the establishment of an Ontario-based organization, The Land Fellowship.
In the 1970s, numerous environmental and sustainable agriculture organizations were
established in response to the emerging global concern about the environment. In the
1980s, there was a dramatic increase in the number of organizations and initiatives,
increased levels of funding from public and private sources, and a greater degree of
in uence over public policy by some concerned organizations. By 1990, Canada had more
than 100 private and para-governmental organizations of varying sizes, organizational

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capacities and goals dedicated to the cause of promoting sustainable agriculture (MacRae
1990 ).
Another development is the growth of community-supported or community-shared
agriculture (CSA) in Canada, where a group of families or individuals team up with one
farmer or a group of farmers and pay a fee for their share of the harvest. Consumers
typically pay part of the cost of the seasons produce upfront and the rest laterregardless
of the quantity of the harvest. Vegetables are harvested and delivered fresh on the same day
to drop-off spots where members pick them up. Some CSAs also offer other products such
as fruit, eggs and meat. Most CSA food is organic. Consumers get fresh food and the
environment is spared of chemical preservatives, packaging and long-distance trucking
associated with most supermarket produce. Besides, farmers get better prices by eliminating the middle man, and the farmerconsumer link is made stronger and sustainable
unlike in industrial farming that is impersonal with almost no contact between producer
and consumer. About 500 CSA co-ops are scattered across Canada (MacAdam
2002 ).
Most of Canadas community-shared agriculture projects have sprouted in large cities
such as Toronto and Vancouver. An exception is the SunRoot Farm in the small town
Kennetcook, Nova Scotia, which connects people of very different backgrounds through
food. Each year, 45 families buy shares in SunRoots yearly harvest. This allows SunRoots farmers to buy seed and other agricultural inputs without taking loans from a bank.
This guaranteed market of local consumers benefits the farmers, who can then plan the
growing season to maximize harvest and minimize waste, thereby ensuring a viable family
farm business (MacAdam 2002 ). Another noteworthy example is Toronto-based non-profit
organization, Food Share, founded in 1985 by a group of concerned citizens to address
growing concerns about the quality of nutrition provided by local food banks and rising
hunger in Canadas largest city. One of FoodShares programs is the Good Food Box. With
the help of volunteers, FoodShare packs 4,000 boxes of fresh produce every month and
distributes them to approximately 200 drop-off points throughout Toronto. Food is sold at
cost as prices are kept low by buying in bulk directly from farmers (Gifford
2002 ).
Admittedly, CSAs are not feasible in all parts of Canada or for all farmers. Growers far
from cities or without a major customer base can find it tough to operate communitysupported farms. However, new farmers interested in the CSA approach can tap into a
growing bank of resources about the CSA way, and connect with other farmers experienced in this shared approach. However, CSAs, with their emphasis on reducing the
distance between the producer and consumer, can be a major element in transforming
Canadian agriculture toward environmental sustainability.
Although interest in organic farming in Canada has been growing, many obstacles
persist. The government does not favor certain agricultural practices over others, whether
industrial or organic. Organic farmers are at a disadvantage because the governments
calculations of payments to farmers are based on commodity prices or farm income, which
are often lower in organic production (Forge
2004 ). Secondly, in order to distinguish
between products produced by organic farming from those produced by conventional
farming, organic farms in Canada are required to be certified by appropriate regulatory
bodies. In 2000, Canada had more than 40 different certification bodies. In June 1999, the
Government of Canada introduced a national standard for organic farming, which constituted the first real federal government intervention directed specifically to this sector of
the agricultural industry (Forge
2004 ). Organic producers now have to obtain certification
for their products according to the National Standard of Canada for Organic Agriculture.
However, as Forge ( 2004 ) observes, the standard is voluntary and the absence of regulatory
enforcement of a uniform Canadian standard serves to hinder the promotion of organic

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farming. Furthermore, in his ethnographic research in southern Ontario, Maxey (

2006 )
found that several farmers were highly critical of what they described as the high costs of
registration, combined with growing surveillance, formalization and paperwork. Maxeys
case studies expressed concern over the additional burdens associated with organic certification, which in some cases felt particularly onerous.
It is still unclear whether these efforts toward sustainable farming in the Canadian
context have resulted in favorable outcomes as far as the environmental quality is concerned. Overall, as Maynard and Nault (
2005 ) noted, much has been discussed about
sustainability in Canada over the last 20 years but its achievement remains elusive in
practice.

4 Sustainable agriculture in Cuba

Before 1959, Cuba practiced industrial farming to meet its domestic food and export needs.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, Cuba, also a target of a thirty-year economic embargo by the United States, lost its biggest trading partner and its ability to import
food, and chemicals and machines for its agricultural sector (Funes et al.
2005 ). Cut off
from imported foods such as meats, grains and processed foods, Cuba was forced to
produce almost all its food domestically. However, given the US embargo and the fall of
the Soviet Union, Cuba lacked petrochemicals needed to maintain the sugar fields and fuel
for transportation, large machinery and electricity. In this desperate situation, Cuba revived
traditional cultural practices like crop rotation, mixed planting and livestock manuring,
which were used before the advent of modern chemicals. Farmers began to use biopesticides and biofertilizers (that are Cuban-made microbial pesticides and fertilizers, which are
non-toxic to human health or biodiversity), earthworm culture, waste recycling, biological
pest control, composting and other ecologically sound practices in a desperate attempt to
avoid a disastrous food shortage (Rosset
1994 ; Zytaruk 2003 ). In the absence of oil, Cuba
turned to solar and wind energy to meet its rural electrification and farm needs. Hog farms
may cause headaches in Canada for their odors and wastes but Cubans tapped their energy
potential by introducing biogas digesters to decompose animal wastes, while simultaneously generating energy. Over 200 biogas digesters are now in use in Cuba, 75 of which
use pig manure. The biodigestion process eliminates any pathogens or other potentially
dangerous contamination from the pig waste. The University of Pinar Del Rio and the
Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment plan to build 91 more biodigesters
on pig farms in the province of Pinar del Rio (Kozak
2005 ).
Moreover, Cuba diversified the use of land once used to grow monocropped sugar into
greater vegetable and livestock production. Numerous initiatives in the countryside combined energy and agricultural innovation to create a nationwide shift to organic, lowenergy input agriculture. Consequently, private production rebounded; however, huge
state-owned farms became ineffective. By mid-1993, the state was faced with a dilemma
since the public sector had become a white elephant incapable of adjusting to market
requirements (Rosset
2000 ). In 1993, Cuba enacted Decree Law No. 142, which transformed state farms into smaller units known as Basic Units of Cooperative Production
(Unidades Basicas de Produccion CooperativaUBPCs) (Gonzalez
2003 ). The expectation was that replacing state farms with smaller, self-managing cooperatives would
increase productivity by rewarding UBPC members for exceeding production goals.
Moreover, the smaller farms could more easily adopt sustainable farming practices in light
of the scarcity of imported agricultural inputs. UBPCs are worker-owned cooperatives that

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allow collectives to lease state farmlands rent free. Members elect management teams to
decide how jobs will be divided, what crops will be produced on which land parcels, and
how much credit will be obtained to purchase inputs. Property rights remain in the hands of
the state and the UBPCs are still required to meet production quotas for important crops;
however, UBPC members are owners of their produce. UBPCs can freely sell what they
produce in excess of the quotas in newly reopened farmers markets. When Fidel Castro
came to power in 1959, only 20% of the land was given to private campesinos for farming,
while 80% was held by the state in the form of large soviet-style farms. As a result of the
1993 decree, around 74% of the farmland has been handed over to private hands either in
the form of UBPCs or small farms (Global Exchange
2003 ).
Another remarkable Cuban achievement is the growth of urban agriculture that turned
unused city plots into large vegetable gardens for feeding urban people. The earlier food
shortages and the rise in food prices transformed urban agriculture into a very profitable
activity for Cubans. With the government providing its full support, the embryonic urban
gardening movement exploded to near epic proportions (Rosset
2000 ). Vacant lots, rooftops, backyards and empty spaces in all Cuban cities have been converted into organic
gardens, and fresh produce is sold from private stands throughout urban areas at prices
substantially below those prevailing in the farmers markets (Saney
2004 ). The urban
gardening movement, that plays a critical role in supplying vegetables and other food items
to the islands population, generates 100% organic produce since using pesticides inside
city limits has been declared illegal (Sullivan
2000 ). By the end of the 1990s, almost
100,000 small- to medium-sized urban gardens spanning over 30,000 hectares produced
more than 3 million tons of fresh vegetables per year for 11 million people (Levins
2005 ).
This has transformed the Cuban diet in the communities, schools and workplaces and
encouraged the spread of vegetarian restaurants. By 2001, urban agriculture accounted for
almost 60% of the vegetables and a high proportion of the eggs and poultry meat consumed
in Cuba. The capital city of Havana itself has more than 8,000 gardens, with governmentowned urban gardens producing 40% of the citys produce (Levins
2005 ). It has been
speculated that once the embargo ends, urban agriculture will disappear; however, the
Cuban government has already taken adequate steps to ensure the survival of urban
agriculture. Havanas 2002 strategic plan gives urban agriculture its own zoning category,
for the first time thereby protecting this form of farming (Rosset
2000 ).
Urban agriculture decreases the environmental as well as economic cost of foodit
reduced energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gases as food is locally produced
rather than being transported over increasingly long distances (Lynch
2002 ). Urban agriculture lowers the costs of transportation and storage by selling directly to consumers.
Growing food in urban areas also reduces stresses on soil and biodiversity in non-urban
areas. Secondly, many urban wastes can form valuable inputs to urban agricultural systems, thereby reducing waste management problems of cities. Thirdly, urban agriculture
makes productive use of vacant land. Fourthly, urban agriculture also provides food and
jobs for low-income urban residents. In Cuba, urban food gardens provide employment for
some 300,000 people at a time when capital is not available to invest in more industrial
employment. Furthermore, urban agriculture increases the green area of cities, detoxifies
the air and provides abundant avenues for neighborhood social interaction (Levins
2005 ).
The success of urban gardening has earned Cuba international accolades (Zytaruk
2003 ).
At Havanas 1999 International Conference on Urban Agriculture, several other countries
expressed a keen interest to apply elements of the Cuban model to their own urban centers.
Cuba also made substantial investments in education and R & D that enabled the crisishit country to draw on agricultural scientists and researchers to develop the knowledge and

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inputs needed for agro-ecological practices. The countrys educated population with traditions of democratic participation became actively involved, thereby rapidly adapting to
the changes. Cuba, therefore, offers an important lesson: investments in human development, general education and R & D is imperative for developing human, intellectual, social
and cultural capital that may be urgently required for a nations transformative processes
(Tharamangalam 2008 ).
Cubas decentralization efforts in development planning, administration, health care and
education has reduced ruralurban divide, giving all Cubans access to education, health
care and cultural life similar to that available in urban areas. Agriculture has become a
viable occupation, generating decent incomes that has encouraged re-peasantization. A
significant lesson from this experience is the importance of making small and sustainable
farms attractive, which not only promotes food security but also reverses increasing urban
pressures (Tharamangalam
2008 ).
The net result of the changes in the Cuban farming sector is that currently the country
has the most sustainable agricultural production in the world (Levins
2005 ; Sullivan 2000 ).
In less than a decade, Cuban agriculture revolutionized itself from high-input, non-sustainable, monoculture to a diversified, organic and sustainable model demonstrating that
chemical-intensive industrial agriculture is not the only way to produce food. The Cuban
experience illustrates that we can very well feed a nations population with a model of
small- and medium-sized farms that utilize eco-friendly technologies, thereby ensuring
self-reliance in food production. Capital intensive chemical inputs can be largely dispensed
with to protect the soil and human and ecological health. The important lessons from Cuba
that can be applied elsewhere are agroecology, fair prices, land reform, local production,
urban agriculture (Rosset
2000 ), investment in human development, education and R &D,
and making agriculture a viable occupation (Tharamangalam
2008 ).
Cubas sustainable agriculture has been lauded by the United Nations as a model for
other countries (Global Exchange
2003 ). The Grupo de Agricultura Organica (GAO), the
Cuban organic farming association, which has played a pioneering role in the countrys
transition from industrial to organic agriculture, was named as winner of the Right
Livelihood Awardcommonly known as the Alternative Nobel Prize. GAO liaisons with
farmers, farm managers, field experts, researchers and government organizations to
develop and promote sustainable farming methods (Global Exchange
1999 ). Cubas fascinating case demonstrates that organic agriculture could actually work as the basis of an
entire nations farming sector.

5 Key differences and similarities between Canadian and Cuban sustainable farming
Both Canada and Cuba are experiencing booms in organic farming, but Cuba is way ahead
of Canada in practicing a diversity of sustaining farming practices throughout the country.
Cuba has transitioned almost completely to sustainable agriculture, while only 1.5% of
Canadas agricultural output is produced using organic agriculture (Miller and Hackett
2008 ).
In Cuba, emphasis is on agro-ecology, inter-cropping, organic soil management, the
production and use of organic fertilizers, vermiculture, compost and biological controls
(integrated pest management), urban agriculture and the use of medicinal plants. In
Canada, organic farming is a profit-oriented industry, urban agriculture is not as widespread as in Cuba; however, organic agriculture is increasingly practiced and the growing
number of community-supported agriculture initiatives (CSAs) is a positive aspect in

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Canadian agriculture sector. While Cuban farmers are world leaders in large-scale organic
production and in the development of urban agriculture, Canadian farmers are world
leaders in sustainable management practices and have expertise in processing, packaging,
labeling and marketing (Holm
2006 ). Cuban success in empowering farmers and building
links between food and community provides useful lessons for Canada.
While Cuba faces the problem of political uncertainty and limited resources, the challenge for Canada is overuse of chemical inputs and lack of incentives to adopt sustainable
practices. There is certainly a growing awareness about sustainable farming in Canada as
evidenced in increasing numbers of citizen groups interested in community-supported
agriculture (CSA), for instance. Canadian policies have recognized the need for environmentally sound agriculture practices; however, the momentum toward sustainable agriculture has been marred by the debate between environmental and economic sustainability
of agriculture (ex. Maynard and Nault
2005 ; Strang 2006 ). The review of literature pertaining to sustainable agriculture and organic farming in Canada undertaken for this paper
revealed that the economic, rather than the environmental dimension, is the main consideration in the move toward organic agriculture. For instance, Forge (2004, para 34)
expressed the concern whether the phasing out of conventional farming and a wholesale
conversion to organic farming could guarantee the same level of income for farmers and a
stable and adequate food supply. However, environmental costs in terms of soil contamination, loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation are not taken into account in
calculation of economic costs of industrial agriculture in Canada. Moreover, as the Cuban
experience shows, it is possible for farming to be environmentally, economically and
socially sustainable if there is deep and pervasive commitment to alternative approaches.
Furthermore, many Canadian organic farms are located next door to farms that use
pesticides since only a small percentage of Canadian farms practice organic agriculture
compared to Cuba. Organic farming, thus, does not guarantee a total absenceof contaminants
in such a situation (Forge 2004 ). In contrast, Cuban food is said to be the cleanest since it is
free of chemical fertilizers and poisonous pesticides and herbicides (Sullivan
2000 ).
In recent years, Canadian Agricultural Policy Framework has also been shaped by trade
treaties such as NAFTA that has negatively affected Canadian efforts toward sustainable
agriculture. In contrast, Cuba is not part of NAFTA or similar trade treaties. In a way, the
US embargo, although economically harmful, has insulated Cuba from the onslaught of US
agribusiness corporations. The net result is that Cuba is the first country in world history to
adopt agro-ecology as a national strategy (Levins
2005 ).
A major obstacle in the transition toward sustainable agriculture in Canada is the level
of human knowledge and skills needed for management of more complex systems.
Agricultural education is one of the topmost government priority throughout Cuba: education in agro-ecology is imparted in universities, vocational high schools, research centers
and agricultural extension systems (Holm
2006 ). Cubas investments in human development and education also paid rich dividends during the time of crisis. In Canada, agricultural education is on par with other educational fields and is not a top government
priority. Agriculture in classroom programs are ad hoc and under-resourced, at best, and
occupy a backseat in educational curriculum due to a crowded academic agenda (Maynard
and Nault 2005 ).
Concerns of increased complexity with organic certification prevalent in the Canadian
context are irrelevant in Cuba since the certification process is too expensive for Cuba to
certify organic products for exports. Cuban food is not certified as organic since organic
farming is all-pervasive (Sullivan
2000 ). Moreover, unlike Canada, there is no two-tier
market with organic food only for those who can afford. The entire production of Cuban

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food is organic or semi-organic. A review of available literature in the Cuban context did
not reveal any discontentment with the current system of sustainable agriculture mandated
by the government, except that in some instances, a few large farmers mentioned they
would like to get their hands on chemical fertilizers if possible; however, the government
controls who gets how much chemical fertilizer (Sullivan
2000 ). More relevant to the
Cuban context is that the transition to organic agriculture has been somewhat controversial.
The debate in Cuba is about the long-term future of sustainable agriculture. Some argue
that sustainable agriculture in Cuba is not a process of conversion, but rather a temporary
substitution during a period of crisis (see Rosset
1994 ). This viewpoint holds that once
trade conditions change, agrochemical inputs could once again come in vogue. In contrast,
the Cuban Association for Organic Farming, a non-governmental organization, contends
that the previous industrial/chemical-intensive model was too import-dependent and
environmentally damaging to be sustainable and that the present change toward sustainability is long overdue and that further transformations are required to maintain sustainability (Rosset 1994 ). Cubas effort to make small and sustainable farms attractive to urban
people and encourage re-peasantization is an important step to ensure the continuation of
sustainable agriculture.
Cuba has federal government oversight on agricultural and other policies thereby bringing
the entire country under a common policy. In contrast, perhaps the biggest challenge for
Canada is its federal-provincial system that devolves implementation to provincial jurisdictions, which allows each province its own set of policies and programs. Formulating a
Canada-wide organic standard took a decade, which indicates the monumental task of
implementing an effectivenational policy forsustainable farming (Maynard and Nault
2005 ).
Much of Cubas production is in small cooperative entities (UBPCs), unlike Canadian
agriculture that is largely controlled by huge agribusinesses. Following the start of the
Special Period, Cuba has restructured the agricultural system in order to re-establish a
relationship between farmers and the land. More and more farmers now own the land they
farm and are receiving fair prices for their produce. In Canada, while community-supported agriculture is a positive development, it is not widespread and income for small
farmers has been declining. Canadas family farms are diminishing and most small family
farms, that have traditionally been the bastions of environmental stewardship are being
taken over by large profit-oriented corporate farms (Martz and Brueckner
2003 ; Roppel
et al. 2006 ). In Cuba, there are no corporate farms since it is a socialist country. Much of
Cubas production is undertaken by small farmers and farmer co-operatives with government incentives (Rosset
1994 ). On the downside, Cubas farm cooperatives are subject
to state production quotas and have little autonomy about crop choices (Gonzalez
2003 ).
Canadian farmers are largely free to produce their choice of commodities; however, their
options are determined, not by the government, but by the market.
In Cuba, socialist arrangements view ecological performance as imperative for economic and social development (Levins
2005). In Canada, agriculture is business- and
profit-oriented without much government intervention since it is part of a larger capitalist
system. Thus, while sustainable agriculture is considered utopian vision in Canada, it is
government policy and widespread agricultural practice in Cuba.

6 Concluding remarks
Industrial agriculture has a greater harmful impact on air, soil, water and biodiversity than
any other human activity. Moving toward sustainable agriculture is crucial for improving

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environmental quality as well as human health. This paper described sustainable agriculture, and compared and contrasted this alternative farming approach in Cuba and Canada.
Although Canada has made considerable progress toward sustainable agriculture since the
1990s, most reforms remain piecemeal. Consequently, sustainable agriculture remains at
the margins of current agricultural policies. In contrast, Cuba has been lauded as the first
country to adopt sustainable agriculture on a nationwide scale.
While Cuban farmers are world leaders in large-scale organic production and in the
development of urban agriculture, Canadian farmers have expertise in management
practices, processing, packaging, labeling and marketing. Cuban successes in empowering
farmers, building links between food and community, investing in human development and
encouraging urbanites to undertake sustainable farming provides useful lessons for Canada.
Canadian expertise in animal farming systems, on the other hand, can be of benefit to
Cuba. By fostering exchange of information between the two countries, sustainable agriculture in both countries can be further enhanced.
However, it is imperative to note that the differences in the scenario of sustainable
agriculture in Canada and Cuba re ect the two diverging viewpoints in sustainable agriculture. One perspective holds that fine-tuning industrial agriculture in terms of more
efficient farming with sensitive technologies can reduce or eliminate several undesirable
effects of industrial agriculture. The second school of thought believes that fundamental
changes in agriculture are imperative and calls for a major overhaul of societal values
toward environmental stewardship.
In Cuba, socialist arrangements and ideological priorities have made ecological
development a natural correlate of economic and social development approaches. In
comparison, although Canada is known for its universal health care, its capitalist economy
that spans most sectors including agriculture has allowed agribusinesses to take over
family farms without much government intervention. Consequently, while sustainable
agriculture is largely seen as utopian vision in some quarters in Canada, it is government
policy and widespread agricultural practice in Cuba.
While Cuban situation is undoubtedly unique, it is quite possible that a similar collapse
in industrial agriculture could occur in other countries, given its alarming impact on the
environment. Current industrial agricultural techniques in many countries, including
Canada, are dependent on expensive technology and chemical inputs that are environmentally unsustainable over the long term. The Cuban experience, thus, has tremendous
relevance for Canada and the entire world.

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