Live the agroecology – Radio26.Cu

From November 19th until 25th, the VI International Meeting of Agroecology, Sustainable Agriculture and Cooperativism takes place in Cuba.

In the province of Matanzas, as a sub-site of the event, representatives from countries such as Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, the United States and the host nation exchanged with local producers.

The delegates toured farms in the municipalities of Cárdenas, Martí and Jovellanos. Among them, Virama, of the producer Teresa Rodríguez, example in the protection of soils through the so-called compost.

They also visited the Plácido estate, owned by the farmer Omar González Santamaría, a cooperativist with extensive experience in the extensive cultivation of moringa.

The delegates also learned about the agroenergy project and good practices on the Tres Hermanos farm and the necessary interrelation of the farmer with the community.

Finally, the property Coincidencia, by Héctor Correa, was the right place to demonstrate how agriculture and art can coexist in a holistic way.

The peasant sector in Matanzas produces 80 percent of the food with only 34 percent of the land. Currently more than seven thousand farms start the path of agroecology and only 35 hold that status.

Necessary exchange

The VI International Encounter of Agroecology, Sustainable Agriculture and Cooperativism constitutes the necessary space to talk about science, technique, traditions and the agroecological practices that are generalized within the cooperative and peasant movement in Cuba.

Libertad López Barrios, of the Independent Central of Agricultural Workers and Peasants José Dolores López Domínguez, in Mexico, commented on his experiences.

“I was struck by how some of the producers had other professions and decided to dedicate themselves to working the land. I take this wonderful experience, there are farmers who have from half to three hectares and sometimes they think they can not produce much in so little space. However, here in the farms we visited, we realized that we can have a diversity in production and feed the family and the community. “

The Puerto Rican Katia Avilés, from the Organización Boricua, highlighted the rapid recovery of Cuba after the passage of Hurricane Irma and promised to replicate these practices on her island.

Ricardo Losada, agroecology student in Colombia, says he came to the event to learn.

“For nobody is a secret that Cuba is a power in this type of work. I came to this event to learn because I aspire to be an agroecological promoter. Really in each farm that I visit I wonder how can I transmit these experiences to the producers of my country? “

Josué López Colón, member of the Movimiento de Vida Integral (MAVI), highlighted that Cuba is an example to the world for its internationalism and exchange among peoples, especially with Puerto Rico, of which the Apostle expressed that the islands were “of an bird the two wings “.

“I am surprised by the interrelation of universities and schools with peasants, that is the basis of agroecology. In Puerto Rico, the State does not support agroecological projects or producers. When I return to my land I take all this knowledge and my little ones will bring them the hope that one day they will be able to live in a more just country. “