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Outstanding agroecological experiences are awarded

The contest "Agroecology: Scalable Innovative Initiatives and Evidence for Sustainable Rural Development in Cuba" was convened in 2019

Outstanding agroecological experiences are awarded
26 Nov 2021

La China, in La Lisa, and Jibacoa, in Boyeros, are among the experiences of agroecological farms, appropriate technologies and promotion and support methodologies awarded in the contest "Agroecology: Scalable Innovative Initiatives and Evidence for Sustainable Rural Development in Cuba" . Out of 251 proposals submitted - 61 of them from women -, the technical committee made up of experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), the Cuban Association of Animal Production (ACPA) and the Cuban Association of Agricultural, Forestry and Tobacco Technicians (ACTAF), selected 15, based on specific requirements for each category: agroecological farms (10), appropriate technologies, and promotion and support methodologies. By provinces, the recognized proposals correspond to Havana, Artemisa, Mayabeque, Matanzas and Sancti Spíritus (2) and Ciego de Ávila, Santiago and Guantánamo (1). Two of the recognized proposals are national, from ANAP and MINAG. At the meeting, thematic capsules on the different award-winning experiences and expert evaluations were presented, while their representatives offered additional details and reflections on the current state of agroecology in the country, challenges and potentialities. Among them, the Doctor of Science Fernando Funes Monzonte, from the Marta agroecological farm in Artemisa, drew attention to the setback in the connection with international agroecological movements, even prior to the pandemic, which conspires against the position reached in a certain way. moment for Cuba as "an inspiration for the rest of the world but in the rest of the world", and considered that the current moment can be "an important turning point to retake what we have achieved and multiply it in the future." According to Funes, in the complex economic, social and health context, we must develop the business world, reconnect people in the field, "strengthen the elements that make us a community, that make us learn from each other, because we are not going to to be able to progress ". Funes referred to the teachings of the urban and suburban agriculture movement, the peasant-to-peasant movement, the inclusive social system, which puts the human being first, and the presence of agroecology in all this context. "We need to grow, we need to be economically solvent, we need to solve many more things technologically because the context changes and we need to create new technologies" and we are all called to "achieve a multiplier effect." More resources are needed, he added, "that allow us to strengthen agroecology with a vision of the future with a sustainable vision, not as an alternative, but as the most viable alternative to make our fields flourish", because "it is the basis of sovereignty food and nutrition ". Convened in 2019, the initiative had the support of the European Union and technical assistance from FAO, and the leadership of the Ministries of Agriculture and Food Industry, the National Association of Small Farmers and the Cuban Association of Agricultural Technicians and Forestry. Marcelo Resende, FAO representative in Cuba, considered that all the initiatives that participated, in an important effort during the pandemic, are winners. He, in turn, reflected on the need for agroecology to demonstrate its economic viability, beyond the benefits to the environment and the production of healthy food, which must be demonstrated with technical and scientific evidence. Resende referred to what he considers the new context of agroecology for Cuba, which includes the updating of the Cuban model, the openness and the 63 measures adopted to boost the agricultural sector. In this new context, he pointed out, it has to be an entrepreneurial agroecology, with mechanisms and instruments to develop, better market its productions, be autonomous and protagonist. On the other hand, he mentioned the role that is granted today to local development and emphasized that agroecology is neither local development nor food sovereignty, while emphasizing the urgency of strengthening Science, Technology and Innovation. For Resende, beyond the contest and its award, the main objective now is to scale agroecology, for which doors must be knocked that allow access to financing that allows the acquisition of inputs and the most modern technologies in equipment that farms need so much. , as well as the strengthening of training, education and extension.


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