Institutionalizing agroecology: successes and challenges in Cuba

Over the past two decades, Cuba has become a recognized global leader in sustainable agriculture. This paper explores how this process of agricultural transition has taken place, and argues that it has largely been led by research institutes, non-state organizations and the Cuban government, which have all contributed to the institutionalization of agroecology in both policy and practice. This process has been highly effective in terms of the numbers of people using agroecological techniques. However, although these techniques have been widely adopted by farmers across the country, this paper suggests that many still perceive maximizing production to be a higher priority than maintaining a commitment to agroecological ideals. For these farmers, agroecological farming is viewed primarily as a pragmatic decision rather than an ideological or moral one, and they may thus be susceptible to shifting back to conventional production if this option became politically and economically feasible

Steffanie Scott (Corresponding author)Email:

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Erin Nelson   (M.A., University of Waterloo) is a doctoral candidate in the Rural Studies Program of the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Her research focuses on local organic food systems. Steffanie Scott   (PhD, University of British Colombia) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Her current research focuses on rural development, small farmers, and the restructuring of local food systems. Judie Cukier   (PhD, University of Waterloo) is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Her current research focuses on the impacts of tourism in developing countries. ángel Leyva Galán   (PhD, University of Leipzig) is Researcher and Professor at Cuba′s National Institute of Agricultural Sciences. His current work focuses on polyculture and the restoration of biodiversity in areas previously dedicated to monocrop sugar plantation.