From: "Dan Christensen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 22:51:17 -0400 To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [CubaNews] Learn from Cuba, Oxfam says "A decade ago, a deep economic crisis swept the island like a level-five hurricane. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc in eastern Europe caused Cuba to lose 80% of its import capacity. Farmers had no fuel for the tractors, no fertilizers or pesticides for the fields, and no spare parts for the pumps. Agricultural production---and almost everything else---ground practically to a halt. The absence of foreign exchange meant that Cuba could not import the basic foodstuffs to provide sometimes even the minimum for its population. People went hungry. Cuba was on the border of total collapse. Today Cuba's countryside has changed dramatically. Agricultural markets, which were banned until 1993, are now filled with produce and bustling with vendors and buyers. For the first time farmers count on strong market incentives and have stepped up production. A new land reform has turned 40% of all the cultivable land in Cuba over to a new kind of farmers cooperative. Alternative production techniques have revolutionized Cuban agriculture---40 years after the birth of the Cuban revolution, Cuba can claim greater diversity in its production and in its trading partners than it ever has had in modern history. Remarkably, Cuba has brought about this dramatic change in agriculture in the middle of a massive economic crisis. [Only possible under socialism? -- Dan] "This report analyzes the new policies and practice changes that brought about the fundamental transformation of Cuban agriculture during the country's economic crisis beginning in 1992. For policy makers in other developing countries, for rural development specialists, for agricultural specialists, and for farmers in other countries, the Cuban model of agriculture is worth a closer examination to reflect on why it has worked and what development ideas may be used in other situations." Source: From the Executive Summary of "Cuba against the grain: Agricultural crisis and transfomation," Oxfam America http://www.oxfamamerica.org/cuba/execsumm.html Download full text of report in PDF format at http://www.oxfamamerica.org/cuba/ Table of Contents Executive Summary I . The Food Crisis in Cuba I I . Cuba's Distinction: Land Reform and a Modernized Peasantry I I I . Reforming Cuban Agriculture I V. A New Model of Cuban Agriculture V. Conclusion Epilogue: Trade Partners, Not Trade Enemies [Visit my web site at http://www.netcom.ca/~dchris/CubaFAQ.html -- Dan] _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
