Documento(s) 1 de 13

This chapter discusses the land features of one of the areas currently under study and its land availability for housing development. The different forms of urban agriculture and their development within their integration and consolidation process in the area are also presented.

The research, as discussed in this chapter, brought about the participative proposal and implementation (local government, citizens and producers) of specific actions in regard to irrigation solutions and organic matter recycling, both important components in urban agricultural development, as well as its beneficial relationship to the urban environment.

Most importantly, the needs and demands for urban development planning integration and the new needs of the inhabitants and the agricultural production are presented, and their growing role in raising the quality of life and establishing the local economy are considered.

* Yalila Murciano Guerra, Francisco Lestegas Pérez, Dalgys Sosa Ruiz and Lourdes Álvarez Hernández collaborated in the writing of this chapter

Background

The city of Havana has had and continues to have two possible spatial development areas for new housing construction: the existing free spaces found in its urbanized area and within its eastern coastal region. The city must not grow towards the south, where the Vento subterranean water basin, its principal water supply, is located, or towards the west, where one finds fertile land currently used for dairy farming.

The end of the Havana Bay Tunnel construction in 1958 significantly raised the potential – and value – of the eastern coastal area for the construction of housing, industries and tourist attractions. This tunnel, measuring more than 700 metres in length, joins the traditional city with its eastern coastal region and the rest of the country. Prior to its construction, one had to skirt the entire bay in order to reach this area.

Since 1959, two stages can be observed regarding the city’s housing construction. Up until the mid-1980s, there was a trend towards new housing development. Subsequently, with the revitalization of the microbrigade movement in 1986, construction was principally aimed at filling up the existing residential areas. In 1989, at the start of the ‘special period’, the city presented a densely-built central region, from which extended an urban development with plots and open spaces that had never been occupied or had become vacant.

The Camilo Cienfuegos residential area, located approximately one kilometre from the Havana Bay Tunnel’s eastern exit, is considered to be the first new urban development built after 1959 by the Revolutionary Government, and is, as a result, considered a national heritage site. The urban development design implemented was selected as a result of a contest organized among Cuban architects of the period. This design harmoniously combined tall and medium structures interspersed with multiple decorative green spaces. Currently, the Camilo Cienfuegos residential area is part of the People’s Council zone of the same name in the municipality of East Havana.

The Camilo Cienfuegos People’s Council zone, the subject of this research project, stretches from the Bay Tunnel exit, where the Morro-Cabaña Military Historical Park is located, and continues throughout the coastal area in a belt that stretches from the coast to the Monumental Route, and then ends approximately one kilometre past the Camilo Cienfuegos residential area.

Despite having a population of more than 11,000, the Camilo Cienfuegos People’s Council maintains a considerable free land reserve. This is because after the 1960s, the area selected for new housing development was located in an area more to the east called Alamar, where greater housing development opportunities were available as it had not been formally associated with any previous projects. Even though Alamar has lower-quality buildings, in its time it provided a solution to the urgent housing shortage.

The undeveloped land located in the area under study has been reserved for housing development in the different development plans conceived, including the current one, with the specification that while they are not used for housing, they will be used to advantage in other ways compatible with its surroundings and not resulting in greater expenditures.

Urban agriculture began in this area in 1990. It was established as much in the west as in the east of the Camilo Cienfuegos residential area (adjacent to it). Between 1990 and 1995, five fresh-vegetable producers’ clubs (Farmers’ Groups), uniting approximately 152 producers were formed. No records have been found that specify the exact amount of land they occupied. In interviews conducted with ten long-time producers, they stated that they quit producing because of the thefts committed in the area, the lack of water supply and the uncertainty regarding the possibility of continuing to farm in the area in the long term. Another reason given was that when the economy recovered, their workload increased and they had little time to devote to their farms.

Urban Agriculture Analysis

Urban agriculture in the Camilo Cienfuegos People’s Council zone currently accounts for a total of 15.4 ha, distributed among an intensive-cultivation garden named El Pedregal, one of the initial clubs called El Paraíso (which has remained stable since its establishment), and approximately 62 other dispersed farmers (not organized).

This activity covers 2.8 per cent of the region’s territory.

Source: Havana Provincial Physical Planning Branch and the Camilo Cienfuegos People’s Council.

Distribution of the total number of hectares and the number of producers in the area under study

Source: El Paraíso Farmers’ Group Records, El Pedregal Intensive-Cultivation Garden, and the Camilo Cienfuegos People’s Council.

Note: The dispersed landowners’ total area is the sum of the cultivated area.

As can be seen, the dispersed farmers occupy areas in three locations: some adjoining El Paraíso, others more to the northwest of the urban area near the coast, and the rest within the urban area’s west side, close to the Morro-Cabaña Park areas.

The entire area used for urban agriculture is state property and was granted to the landowners for use free of charge.

By assessing the area used for urban agriculture in Camilo Cienfuegos, it can be estimated that 70 per cent of the total area, or 10.6 ha, is used for farming. The remaining 30 per cent is occupied by paths, small installations, and mainly very rocky pieces of land that require arduous site preparation. It is important to note that the producers, the Urban Municipal Farm and the People’s Council have found a potential area of 26.0 ha ideal for agricultural activity in the eastern part of the Camilo Cienfuegos residential area. Among them, 13.6 ha are occupied by El Paraíso, El Pedregal and dispersed farmers, leaving 12.4 ha that remain undeveloped.

More specific features related to production techniques are discussed below.

El Pedregal Intensive-Cultivation Garden

The El Pedregal Intensive-Cultivation Garden is located at the entrance of the Camilo Cienfuegos residential area, along its main route near residential buildings and very close to a General Hospital that provides service to the East Havana municipality.

The land presently occupied by the Intensive-Cultivation Garden was informally used for baseball practice and was selected in 1994 for use as a high-yield urban garden (HUYR).² This last project was never fully implemented, owing mainly to the difficulties encountered with regard to water supply for irrigation purposes. Nevertheless, the land had agricultural potential and has been used for this purpose since then.

El Pedregal occupies a total area of 2.5 ha (its land area is in keeping with the space stipulated for a HUYR), of which 90 per cent can be farmed. Until now, the maximum area that has been farmed is approximately 0.5 ha, because of the very rocky soil (from which the Intensive-Cultivation Garden’s name derives) and because it is not very deep and has a limited capacity for water retention.

In addition to the above, it is worth noting that the water used for irrigation purposes comes from the population’s water supply network, and the increase in its use for those purposes depends solely on the authorization of the Provincial Aqueducts Directorate. All of these problems are gradually being solved, which has allowed this land to be obtained for farming.

In the beginning, seven workers, two custodians and five workers directly involved in production were employed full time at El Pedregal. Currently, there are nine employees: two custodians and seven others directly involved in production. The number of workers has increased in response to the need to progressively enlarge the cultivated area.

The workers are organized through a Cooperative Production Basic Unit (CPBU). Four of them live in Camilo Cienfuegos, two in Alamar, two in Casa Blanca and one in Reparto Bahía. All of these neighbourhoods are relatively near to the Intensive-Cultivation Garden. The five workers who live outside Camilo Cienfuegos commute between 4 and 10 km by bicycle very early in the morning and very late in the afternoon. This shows that there exists enough incentive in their work, since they have been doing this for three to five years.

Four of the workers are between the ages of 19 and 25, two between 26 and 40, and the remaining two are over 65.

There is one woman working at the Cultivation Garden, an agricultural mechanization engineer, who is also the assistant manager.

After evaluating the producers/ha indicator, the following results were obtained:

By comparing the above figures with the indicator for the city (7.6 workers/ha in intensive-cultivation gardens), it can be seen that they are much higher, which shows a low rate of efficiency.

In the analysis carried out with the producers, they expressed that the figures had remained stable in the past two years as a result of using organic techniques for managing the area. In addition, they intend to expand the cultivated area, which requires a workforce. At this time, part of their work consists of preventing grass in the non-cultivated area from spreading and gradually improving this area. It is also noted that it is not necessary to hire outside workers during the peak periods such as the sowing and harvest seasons.

It is evident that this indicator is directly related to labour cost and the technological system used, depending on the country, region or city in question. In Cuba, the socioeconomic system gives priority to job security for those of employment age, which makes the encouragement of an activity that creates employment a positive aspect of what is being evaluated here. This does not exclude the need to make the above correspond to the efficiency that should be achieved, a component that, as has been noted, requires a long-term assessment.

It is also important to remember that the money earned by agricultural producers, in this or any other type of unit whose objective is to market its products, comes from sales. Nevertheless, even though they earn much more in comparison with any other worker paid in local currency, this does not pose a direct problem to the state. Producers themselves would be the most adversely affected by having unnecessary extra workers, since they will receive less profits while there are more workers.

El Paraíso Farmers’ Group

According to the City Development Plan, the total area occupied by El Paraíso is included in the land reserved for new housing construction.

This group of 53 farmers cultivates 8.6 ha, distributed in 40 plots (each one farmed by one or two producers) with an area that fluctuates between 12 and 3 500 m².

The cultivated area amounts to approximately 68 per cent of the total area, or 5.8 ha.

Among the landowners, 90 per cent are between the ages of 50 and 60, and the majority are pensioners, retired from the Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior. Only two of the 53 farmers are women, reflecting the city’s overall pattern.

The above figures have remained stable in the ten years that they have been farming, because when one of the farmers retires from the group due to illness (the main cause) or any other reason, he or she is then replaced by someone who had previously shown interest in joining this group.

The Farmers’ Group members do not meet regularly, but rather only do so when necessary: if they are expecting a visit, when they need to assign a plot to an interested party or to elect the best producer from the group (the one who achieves the best output and employs good land management practices). They also meet every year to set up the production quota that they will follow throughout the year.

After evaluating the producers/ha indicator, the following results were obtained:

The comparison of the results achieved through these indicators with the city’s average producers/ha (16.4 producers/ha) demonstrates that at El Paraíso, almost half the number of people work for the same land area, which to some extent reflects the characteristics of the actors involved: pensioners with more time to devote to this activity tend more land. This also explains in part why they have remained producers for a longer period of time.

Dispersed Farmers

These producers classified themselves as dispersed farmers since they are not organized in groups and they have practically no say in implementing the plan, nor in receiving technical assistance, training, agricultural supplies or other types of support.

This situation considerably limited the collection of information during the research process, which had to be restricted to direct observation and, when possible, conducting interviews when a producer was found on his or her plot. Responses would reflect that particular spot, as the lack of organization makes this statistical population difficult to assess.

Currently, the leaders of the El Paraíso Farmers’ Group and the Urban Municipal Farm representative to the People’s Council are working together to reorganize these dispersed producers.

It is known that an unspecified number of these dispersed producers belonged to the four fresh-vegetable producers’ clubs initially organized in the area (excluding El Paraíso), and that the remaining producers have been joining during the past few years.

They represent approximately 50 per cent of the total number of Camilo Cienfuegos producers and, as mentioned above, they occupy 4.3 ha of land, amounting to 28 per cent of the area used for urban agriculture in the area under study. In this case, the total area refers to cultivated land and amounts to 40 per cent of the total area developed in the region for agricultural purposes.

Similar to El Pedregal and El Paraíso, the soil on the three sites, where the dispersed farmers’ areas are located, appears very rocky, shallow, and with a limited capacity for water retention. These features are more pronounced in the area adjacent to the coast, where prevailing winds are also more intense, especially the northern cold fronts during the winter months. As a result, production is low and concentrated primarily in the cultivation of yucca and plantain.

Owing to its importance for comparison with the city’s global analyses of the area under study, we have considered it important to indicate that:

1. The area occupied by the dispersed farmers to the west of the Camilo Cienfuegos urban area borders on the Morro-Cabaña Military Historical Park, still under construction. This is an area with access to the city and beautiful scenery, and therefore it has been decided that urban agriculture should be discontinued so that its green space could be used in a manner more in keeping with those established by the Camilo Cienfuegos Project and those that will be established later by the Morro-Cabaña Park Project.
2. The agricultural development along the coast, likewise, should be discontinued for the following reasons: which is due to the limited natural conditions favourable to agricultural activity; the fact that it
   lies on a coastal landstrip that joins the Camilo Cienfuegos and Cojímar residential areas; and, lastly, it is more appropriate for recreation than for agricultural activity.

   In this way, the Quick Visual Diagnosis revealed that one of the three areas previously used for agriculture in this area has been abandoned.

3. It is without doubt that the area occupied by dispersed farmers which adjoins the El Paraíso Farmers’ Group which presents the best conditions for being permanently established as an area to be used for urban agricultural activity.

In the future, this area could be treated, within a residential urban development project, as a Food Park with a wide variety of interests. The latter goes beyond a means for food security to be regarded solely as a food resource. This Food Park would include the preservation of agricultural practice, environmental practice through recycling, and design as an example of urban planning that is more in tune with our realities.

These results imply that the statistical population of dispersed farmers would be reduced to the area adjacent to El Paraíso:

These considerations would adjust the current figures of the area under study to the following:

Nevertheless, as mentioned above, the estimated area with potential for urban agricultural activity is 26.0 ha. If we consider that the producers/ha indicator reaches an average of 7, the total number of producers could rise to 180, much higher than the original and current figures.

Established Crops

The topography of the area studied in this project is part of a step-like coastal plain starting at a jagged rocky shoreline (0.5–1 m high), moving up through low flat terraces (1–10 m high) and medium and high terraces (10–47 m high) on a limestone base covered by an alluvial silt process in which underground drainage predominates.

This area is located above the North Coast groundwater basin, which is characterized by high salinity. This, together with the lack of surface water, results in limited conditions for irrigation.

Climatic conditions at Camilo Cienfuegos are greatly influenced by its proximity to the sea. The average annual temperature is 25.0ºC. The coldest month is January, with an average temperature of 22.3ºC, and the hottest is August, with an average of 27.6ºC. The prevailing winds are from the first and second quadrants, most frequently from the NE, ENE, SE and ESE, with an average velocity of 12 km/h. Average annual precipitation is 1,133.5 mm, with 75 to 80 per cent of this occurring between the months of May and October (rainy season). The driest month is April and the rainiest is October. The average relative humidity is 78 per cent and there is an average of 7.7 hours of sunlight per day.

In addition, the north shore of the city of Havana experiences about 20 cold fronts per year that pass through during the winter season and directly affect the area studied because of their strong winds laden with salt residue.

The proximity of the coastline, the intensity of the trade winds, the salinity and aridity caused by these conditions and the predominance of thin layers of poorly developed soil with low agroproductive capacity reaffirm the difficulties in using this land for agricultural purposes.

Notwithstanding the above, it has been shown over the last ten years that food can be produced on this land. Following is a discussion of performance in this respect.

El Pedregal’s Yield

Over the last two years, depending on the season, there have been stable crops of 12 to 16 species and/or varieties on average. Most of the production area has been taken up by fresh vegetables, as is appropriate to the concept of intensive-cultivation gardens.

Crops such as lettuce, cabbages and tomatoes generally account for the largest percentage because the population’s demand for them is highest. On the other hand, sunflowers have occupied a significant area due to their commercial value, related to Afro-Cuban religious practices.

The period of highest production and greatest diversity of fresh vegetables is from November to April. Average data for this period over the last two years are provided below.

Fresh Vegetable Production 1999–2000

In the year 2000, El Pedregal achieved a total production of 1200 qq, or 54,432 kg. The above is equivalent to:

This comparison shows yields approaching the city average, in spite of adverse natural conditions, which is in keeping with workers’ intentions to consolidate the cultivated area before going on to expand it.

Production per producer is practically half that of the city average and the number of producers per hectare has a bearing on this, as was explained earlier.

It must be pointed out that in most cases production figures are estimates based on producers’ experience, giving rise to a margin of error that also applies to city averages.

Established trees:

• 72 hedge trees (living fences) of mastic trees and earpod trees.
• 3 mango plants and one avocado plant.
• 30 fruit-bearing plants at the nursery stage (in bags): guava, mamey, soursop, custard apple, avocado and mango.

Almost all tree-planting activity in the Intensive-Cultivation Garden has been done to establish tree hedges. This is due to the need to set up property boundaries in an economical manner and to provide protection from prevailing winds, especially in winter. The criterion for selecting the species of trees has not been based on consideration of other uses of these plants.

The established trees fall far short of meeting the area’s real needs, so it is anticipated that more trees of different species, mainly fruit trees will be planted. These would produce additional benefits through marketing the product and using land that would otherwise have little potential for intensive-cultivation crops.

Raising Small Livestock

Pigs and poultry were raised at El Pedregal in the past. Pig raising disappeared because of laws prohibiting it, but at the start of the ‘special period’ these laws were not strictly enforced. Poultry production ceased because it was difficult to obtain a secure supply of high-quality (concentrated) feed to maintain the stability of the flocks.

No small or large livestock is currently being raised at the intensive-cultivation garden. Producers, however, show an interest in rabbit, sheep and goat production. As with poultry, the urban and sanitary restrictions placed on raising the above-mentioned species are less stringent than those for pork production.

Pigs cannot be raised at El Pedregal, because existing conditions do not comply with the regulations established by law and enforced by the

Hygiene and Epidemiology, Physical Planning and Veterinary Medicine Directorates: pork production is only permitted at a distance of more than three kilometres from the nearest residential building and more than one kilometre from any source of drinking water.

Challenges of the Group

Just as at the Intensive-Cultivation Garden, the 8.6 ha occupied by El Paraíso Farmers’ Group is covered by a thin layer of rocky soil. In order to farm this soil, producers had to labour intensively, mostly removing rocks. They removed the rocks by hand and built approximately 5 km of stone walls more than 0.5 m high. These stone walls or enclosures, known as cercos in other countries in the region, also serve to mark property boundaries between the plots and form a network of internal pathways approximately 0.5 m wide. Based on observations made at various times throughout the research project, notes were kept on the established crops in 25 plots (62 per cent of the total) and on small livestock being raised in the area. (See table.)

Established crops and animals in the area

*In production.

It is interesting to note that the farmers consider it necessary to coordinate growing crops with raising small livestock, especially where raising pigs is concerned. However, existing regulations prevent this, even in cases where farms are fairly far from residential buildings and prevailing winds do not blow in their direction.

It is evident that this form of urban agriculture involves great diversity, as demonstrated by the presence of fruit trees, tubers and roots (including plantains), fresh vegetables, timber trees, medicinal plants, grains and flowers.

The dominant crops are found in the following order:

1. Fruit trees in production
2. Plantains
3. Yuccas
4. Timber trees
5. Medicinal plants
6. Fresh vegetables and herbs.

Analysis of these results undeniably shows that:

• Ten years of work has gone into planting fruit and timber trees, which demonstrates a notable trend of permanence among producers in the area.
• Producers give priority to planting crops that require little water, due to the area’s lack of this resource.
• Producers give priority to crops, such as yucca and plantain, that are an important part of the basic diet.

The production quota agreed upon by the Farmers’ Group for 1999 was 6,985 kg. This quota was exceeded by 10 per cent. The Farmer’s Group achieved a production level of 7,683.5 kg.

On comparing the indicators achieved at El Paraíso with those estimated for the city in general, the following is observed:

This comparison demonstrates the low yields achieved by the El Paraíso farmers, which indirectly prevents them from reaching a better production per producer value, even though the number of producers per hectare is half that of the city average.

In assessing the possible causes of such low yields, it is clear that:

• Concrete natural conditions have a strong impact on production, as stated above.
• The estimated figures for production results are taken from producers’ own experience. No scale or measuring tool is used.
• There are many fruit trees on the plots, which generally produce once a year. This may affect El Paraíso’s average yields.

However, the difference between the average yield of city farmers and those of El Paraíso is so pronounced that even if the latter had the city’s lowest yields, a more extensive analysis would be advisable to validate these estimates. To do so, it would be important to have studies of more than one area of the city and select them according to their different natural conditions, crops and other elements of interest to establish comparisons.

With regard to the above, it must be kept in mind that the city’s farmers form part of a very diverse group of producers with different levels of access to technology, training and resources who work in distinct cultural and natural environments. Extending the study to several areas would mainly serve to correct flaws and achieve greater precision with a view to establishing more exact indicators.

From the commercial perspective, the value of some of these crops is not related to the volume or weight of produce (medicinal plants and exotic fruits), but rather to sales units (one package, bunch or fruit). A few grams of dried herbs can be sold at a higher price than one kilo of yucca or sweet potato. Likewise, one mamey could have a higher price than several oranges.

The above values show that yield or gross production is not an indicator that reflects the multiplicity of benefits and/or purposes of the farmers’ agricultural activity. Many of the products obtained or species planted represent environmental or cultural benefits that are difficult to quantify but are equally important in assessing the city’s agriculture.

Dispersed Farmers

Observations made at various times during the research indicate predominance of plantain and yucca crops and, to a lesser extent, other

tubers, vegetables, grains and herbs. In the area adjacent to El Paraíso, some fruit trees and timber trees are already in production.

The predominance of yucca and plantain indicates that the farmers seek crops that do not require irrigation or a lot of care and, at the same time, supply abundant calories to the diet.

According to the producers who could be interviewed, the lack of organization in carrying out the activity is evident in the results achieved, and therefore a less effective management than at El Paraíso is observed in these areas, as is a higher incidence of theft.

Law and Land Use

Originally, land use authorization in the Camilo Cienfuegos area came from the Electoral District Delegate. The Delegate is a (non-professional) representative elected by residents every two years. The Delegate’s authorization at that time was granted directly, provisionally and free of charge to people interested in establishing community gardens, who are now called farmers.

El Pedregal, as stated above, had its origins in the area’s selection for the High Yield Urban Garden (HYUG). This use of land for an HYUG, later converted to an intensive-cultivation garden, was authorized by the Electoral Delegate and a Provincial Commission made up of representatives from agencies involved in the city’s management and control.

Currently, the farmers and the Intensive-Cultivation Garden are still using the land provisionally and free of charge, but there are reforms of laws concerning land use for agricultural activity. The principal reforms are the following:

• Legal authorization is obtained by registering the area for provisional use, free of charge, with the Land Registry Department of the Urban Agriculture Municipal Group. The Municipal Agriculture Commission decides whether the land should be withdrawn from use free of charge.

  The Municipal Agriculture Commission comprises the Director of the Urban Agriculture Municipal Group (who presides), the Land Registrar from the Land Registry Department, the Urban Municipal Farm Manager and the municipality’s President of the National Association of Small Producers (ANAP). Other institutions are also invited to participate, such as the Credit and Commerce Bank (BANDEC), the Municipal Physical Planning Directorate and the Municipal Labour Directorate.

• Notwithstanding the above, in the operational rules of procedure of the El Paraíso Farmers’ Group (drafted and approved by its members), the membership of a new producer and occupation of a new plot in its territory must be approved by the group before any other procedure regarding the matter is set in motion.
• Both the Electoral District Delegate and the Popular Council Chairperson have prior knowledge of the registration of a new plot and may express their opinions on the matter. In the event of disagreement, the authorization process is not initiated.

The main reasons for rescinding land use authorization for any form of urban agricultural production in the area under study are the following:

• The area is needed by the local government (municipality or province) for another given use. Example: housing construction.
• Inadequate use of the area is repeatedly observed.
• The producer to whom the plot was granted engages in share-cropping (giving it to a third party for use).
• The social purpose for which it was granted is distorted. For example, the land was granted for food production and there is an attempt to build a residence instead.

Water for Irrigation in Camilo Cienfuegos

In the area of Camilo Cienfuegos under study, there is no surface water and the phreatic water interacts with seawater, resulting in a high level of salinity. This has been proven in the existing wells, which can only be used in certain cases.

The pattern of irrigation water among Camilo Cienfuegos producers is the following:

In Havana, the possibility of charging for irrigation water coming from the general water supply network is currently being studied. It is estimated that this measure would increase the cost of production. However, to ensure that prices for produce are not affected, it is anticipated that a level of subsidy will be maintained.

It is interesting to note that a complementary study conducted in the area by a Canadian student assessed ‘the willingness to pay for using land’ (VDP). The average VDP was estimated at 23.5 Cuban pesos/1,000 m²/month under current conditions and at 34.4 Cuban pesos/1,000 m²/month with improved water services and protection of the area. In both cases, it is evident that producers value agricultural activity highly, as these figures represent approximately 12 per cent and 17 per cent of the average salary, respectively.

During the second year of research, possible alternatives to existing water sources close to productive areas were studied in greater depth in cooperation with the area’s producers. Identification of these alternatives focused on the possibility of recycling water. The results are provided below:

1. The Panamerica Complex’s Olympic pools, located approximately 500m south of El Paraíso’s productive areas.

   In this case an analysis was performed to determine the possibilities of using the water drained from these pools. It was observed that even if the water met all of the conditions for use in irrigation, the facilities were built with an internal recycling system in order to reduce water costs. However, they must be completely drained once or twice a year. The water is drained through a conduit that passes close to the El Paraíso areas. This conduit belongs to a system fitted out for this purpose, as well as collecting other volumes of water yet to be determined. This possibility undoubtedly exists, but is contingent on the following four actions:

   1. Assessing the quality of water flowing through the conduit.
   2. Building a conduit to the production areas.
   3. Building a storage system.
   4. Installing a pump system.

   As can be seen, this solution demands an investment of capital that the producers do not have, and therefore external support is required.

2. The possibility of using rainwater collected at every building in the Camilo Cienfuegos residential area (all buildings have three, four or
   twelve floors). This is collected by a rainwater drainage system of conduits emptying into the sea.

   The use of this water for irrigation requires an even greater investment than the pools option, but it has not been discounted. As with the first alternative, constructing a system for using it will depend mostly on the level of permanency reached for agricultural activity in the area. The latter is directly related to its integration into the municipality’s urban development project.

3. A third alternative identified was the Luis Soto Alba General Hospital, relatively near to the productive areas to the west (Intensive-Cultivation Garden, dispersed farmers adjacent to El Paraíso). While this facility generates significant volumes of residual waters, governing institutions do not authorize its use for irrigation. In this case the potential form of catchment was not assessed.
4. Lastly, it was reaffirmed that there is still the possibility of building wells, mainly in the belt furthest from the coast where water with a lower level of salinity could be found. In this case the amount of investment would be less, but it would be difficult to guarantee the volumes of water required.

On the other hand, producers do not discount building some sort of rainwater storage system that would contribute to irrigation for individuals or small groups, although significant volumes of water could not be obtained in this way either.

All of this analysis indicates that it is necessary to continue working in two important directions:

1. Integrating urban agriculture into the area’s urban development project, which would lend permanence to the activity and facilitate the search for capital and construction of a more sustainable solution for irrigation water.
2. Producing a design of the potential agricultural zone for the area, consisting of 26 ha and conceived as a park or urban green space for food which includes the best and most comprehensive selection of crops and the availability of water for irrigation as an important aspect, among others.

Recycling Organic Matter

As mentioned previously, one of the principal weaknesses of urban agriculture in the city of Havana is the identification of sources and uses

of existing organic matter. The behaviour of the Camilo Cienfuegos area under study has been similar to the rest of the city.

It can be asserted that among the forms of urban agriculture present in Camilo Cienfuegos, the use of organic matter to improve soils has been limited to handling the remnants of harvests and trees and shrubs in each area. Only one of the El Paraíso Farmers’ Group plots, the one bearing the same name, was recently established as an Organic Matter Production Centre with a view to marketing. To produce this fertilizer, manure from various dairies, somewhat far from the production area, is transported to the Centre. This not only impacts negatively on the ecosystem from which it is extracted but also incurs transportation costs, making it more of a problem than a benefit. The producer states that the supply of manure is not stable, and that it sometimes contains grass, soil and other materials that make the work more difficult. In addition, he does not have enough space to produce all of the organic matter the area requires.

On the other hand, the area’s producers have worked on identifying possible sources of organic matter and its use. The identification of sources has been reaffirmed during the research process and is observed in the following results:

Possible sources of organic matter in in Camilo Cienfuegos

The possibility of using organic residues produced by kitchens and cafeterias of facilities such as the Luis Soto Alba Hospital, Panamerican Olympic Complex and farmers’ market was evaluated. Because of the volumes generated, these are always collected and recycled by companies from outside the area who use them for animal feed.

Of the area’s producers, the most significant effort to use part of potential organic residues has been made by the producers at the El Pedregal Intensive-Cultivation Garden. They worked with those responsible for collecting the remnants of pruning and green space maintenance to leave this material at the garden and began to prepare an organic compost. The volume of biomass that the Camilo Cienfuegos residential area generates through green space maintenance is estimated at 180 mt per year.

Apart from the population’s lack of knowledge regarding the benefits of recycling organic matter, it became evident that producers did not handle it properly. Some residents began to complain, fearing that a source of vectors would be created by the accumulation of non-organic materials (rubber, metal, etc.) and the occasional delay in preparing compost heaps. As a result, the Popular Council chairperson decided to halt the activity.

With this information the Research Team, which has included the manager of the El Pedregal Intensive-Cultivation Garden since its inception, decided to take progressive action that would revisit the situation and demonstrate the benefits of recycling organic matter for both residents and the garden.

The strategy was aimed at implementing small-scale actions with residents and training producers. In this way, results would be obtained that would give confidence to residents and motivate them to gradually join actions, thereby increasing organic matter for fertilizer production. The strategy also aimed to make residents recognize the need to use other sources of organic matter, such as residues from green space maintenance.

The following steps were taken:

1. In cooperation with the Popular Council chairperson, the problems arising from this situation and the benefits of revisiting it were evaluated, mainly from the perspective of appropriate management of organic matter. Producers were committed to this issue.
2. Identifying, together with the Popular Council chairperson, the producers and members of the Research Team, the best way to initiate actions with residents.

   This resulted in identifying a residential building as close as possible to the Intensive-Cultivation Garden and conducting a motivation workshop with residents on the advantages of selecting and recycling organic matter, encouraging them to select and establish organic matter collection for the Intensive-Cultivation Garden’s producers. The frequency of collection would be determined afterwards, depending on needs.

   Residents would have the opportunity to visit the organic compost preparation site and observe its management, which would be one way of spreading news of the project through direct communication with other Camilo Cienfuegos residents.

3. The most appropriate building was identified, located 100 m from the Intensive-Cultivation Garden. It consists of eight apartments with a
   total of 23 residents distributed among families of two to eight people. Cooperation with representatives from the neighbourhood association was established to motivate them in the task. They organized a workshop with the other residents and Intensive-Cultivation Garden producers.

   Organic Matter Collection and Compost Preparation

   

4. The workshop was conducted with the participation of 87 per cent of the residents and the proposal was well received. The residents of seven of the eight apartments became involved in the activity and asked about the possibility of using grass from green space maintenance.

The project is currently in the implementation phase and the Research Team keeps apprised of its progress through the Intensive-Cultivation Garden’s manager and other team members. However, it is still too early to measure either quantitative or qualitative results. Monitoring the project will allow all cost benefits to be evaluated, as well as their impact on:

• Collection of domestic garbage.
• New producer-consumer relationships.
• New relationships among residents.
• Participation of family members.
• Initiatives and modifications developed by residents.

This project is an important advance that can be reproduced in other areas of the city. Small-scale recycling can expand until it has a significant impact on the urban environment.

It is important to indicate that the project was not as well received among the El Paraíso Farmers’ Group as at the Intensive-Cultivation Garden. This is due, in part, to the research project’s membership. As mentioned above, the manager of the Intensive-Cultivation Garden has been part of the research team since its inception and the experience he acquired during the project’s implementation has had a direct influence on the workers.

In the analysis carried out with El Paraíso producers, they stated that they already had all the training they needed to prepare organic composts, but ‘it was one thing to know how to do it and another to actually do it’, and that preparing composts from domestic residues involved work for which they were still not trained. However, the buildings are further from the El Paraíso plots than from the Intensive-Cultivation Garden.

On assessing this pattern, the Research Team considered it appropriate to avoid insisting and waiting for the results of the Intensive-Cultivation Garden project to create a level of motivation at El Paraíso. The farmers’ lands are definitely losing productive capacity because they still do not completely use organic techniques and climatic conditions also affect the area. They therefore need to utilizeall forms of producing fertilizer.

Marketing in the Camilo Cienfuegos Popular Council Zone

Within the Camilo Cienfuegos Popular Council Zone there are three ways to market agricultural products:

Price-Controlled Outlets

As in the rest of the country, the price-controlled outlets are part of a system of facilities where products that ensure a level of equality for all inhabitants are sold at prices and in quantities controlled by the state. This ‘controlled’ distribution, as it had been termed, has played an important role in meeting the population’s food needs until the beginning of the 1990s, when the economic crisis began.

Currently, the government is making significant efforts to maintain equitable and subsidized distribution, but distribution levels are not the same as they were before the 1990s. That is why the population needs to turn to other forms of marketing, such as farmers’ markets and urban agriculture.

CHAPTER VII CONTINUES...

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