Strangled by the U.S. economic blockade and having suffered great damage from three hurricanes last year, socialist Cuba is actively seeking ways to boost its agricultural production.
Granma newspaper quoted agricultural expert Juan Varela: “The current world financial crisis requires a mixture of the modern and the traditional. Our country has sufficient capacity and experience to come out a winner and not allow itself to be defeated by problems and justifications.”
In early 2009, the Cuban Agriculture Ministry opened idle land close to cities for local residents to plow, encouraged the replacement of fuel-burning tractors with oxen, redistributed fallow land in order to boost agricultural production and raised prices for state-regulated farm products.
The use of oxen has dramatically increased as Cuban farmers rely on them to plow and sow the land. Currently, there are over 265,000 oxen being used in agricultural production across the country. (Xinhua, Aug. 30) According to Granma, training centers for ox teams are being opened in the central province of Villa Clara to produce more than 3,000 teams. (Miami Herald, Aug. 25)
Cuba had implemented the use of oxen previously but on a much smaller scale. A 2007 project in the province of Las Tunas successfully worked 16,600 acres with 700 ox teams and 35 drivers.
The 2009 program has benefited 82,000 people and redistributed 1.7 million acres of lands, or about 40 percent of Cuba’s idle land. Dairy production has also increased slightly.
In the last two years, Cuba has gone through deep challenges as it was hit by three powerful hurricanes. Its agriculture went into a state of crisis this year, with millions of acres idled and many crops damaged with losses estimated at $10 billion.
Cuba has faced severed economic challenges before, especially during the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist camp. From 1959 until 1991, Cuba received significant assistance from the Soviet Union that included the modernization of its agriculture. Tractors, technology and agricultural experts were provided by the Soviet Union as a way to increase the country’s agricultural production.
The U.S. economic blockade has created more difficulties for the Cuban Revolution as it continues to build socialism. The blockade officially began in 1962 in response to the nationalizations that put the wealth of Cuba into the hands of the Cuban people—much to the displeasure of the U.S. ruling class. The U.S. imperialists sharply escalated the blockade after the overthrow of the Soviet Union, hoping to expedite the collapse of socialism in Cuba after its main trading partner disappeared.
The economic blockade has forced the Cuban government to find innovative ways to address crises like the recent drop in agricultural production.
In a recent trip, a team of U.S. farmers and businesspeople traveled to Cuba to witness these new changes.
“You go out to the farms and there’s no equipment. It’s like the country has regressed back to the 1500s. They use oxen in the field,” said John Costello, president of CFNA Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based not-for-profit agency that seeks to boost agriculture in underdeveloped countries. (Journal Star, May 9)
Cuba imports 60 percent of its food, spending U.S. $1.6 billion a year on food imports. A sector of the U.S. ruling class sees the opportunity for sizable profits if the blockade is lifted, and this along with other Cuban trade is open to the U.S. capitalists.
John Block, former U.S. secretary of agriculture under U.S. President Ronald Reagan, spoke for this sector when he called for change in U.S. policy toward Cuba following his recent visit to Cuba.
“My judgment is we need total open trade. It’s embarrassing that we have kept the embargo in place all of these years. It should have been lifted years ago. Certainly, that tiny island country 90 miles from our shore is no threat to us,” said Block.
The Obama administration has not drastically changed U.S. policy toward Cuba as it continues to impose the blockade. The administration has not indicated that it has any intentions of restoring trade and diplomatic relations with the Cuban government. U.S. policy continues to be geared toward returning Cuba to its status as a neo-colony, as it was before the 1959 revolution.
Despite the severe impact of the blockade and the global economic crisis, Cuba has continued to prioritize people’s needs, guaranteeing free education, health care, food and homes to the population. These fundamental social programs are made possible by Cuba’s system of socialist planning and distribution.
