United Nations Lauds Cuba’s Urban Agriculture Program

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HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 18 (acn) The representative in Havana of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Marcio Porto, recently reaffirmed that the urban and suburban agriculture program put into practice by Cuba is an example to other nations.

During the closing of a national meeting about the sector, Porto said Cubans are respected because of their expertise and capacity of making a lot with little resources.

Porto said the initiative has succeeded in having large numbers of people involved due to the increased awareness of need to produce food in areas close to the towns and cities.

FAO’s official was optimistic about the future of Cuban agriculture despite obstacles posed by the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the U.S the island has to overcome.

The Program’s executive secretary Nelson Campanioni told the press the two modalities of the initiative make it possible to produce food making the most of the potential of each area.

The implementation of the program shows the local development since it has come as a solution to specific problems in each territory, based on the producers’ creative initiative, the characteristics of the soils and materials needed.

“This is the agriculture of the future in the whole world, because it allows taking advantage of every piece of land available by applying sustainable methods such as agro ecology and worm humus as fertilizer, among other techniques” Campanioni noted.

The program focuses mainly in the production of different types of vegetables, grains, fruits, dairy cattle and small livestock.

Data from the Ministry of Agriculture indicates that more than 384,000 people are currently involved in any kind of urban or suburban agricultural activity in their municipalities.