Organic Revolution

This remarkable story demolishes the myth that organic farming can never feed the world. Holistically adopted, it can also revitalise society, enhance the environment and safeguard future generations. In the current raging debate over urban-industrial uprootment of farmers, here is one example the world cannot ignore. After the Soviet Union collapsed – and the US tightened its embargo – Cuba’s Organic Revolution began suddenly, under compulsion. A decade later, in 1999, the Swedish Parliament presented the Right Livelihood Award, or Alternative Nobel Prize, to the Cuban Organic Farming Association - for showing that organic agriculture is a key to both food security and environmental sustainability. Today, not only has Cuba’s productivity increased, its economy, health, education, energy efficiency, water security, are all big gainers. In 2006, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Global Footprint Network declared: Cuba is the only country on earth to achieve sustainable development. The American Journal of Public Health reported a 45% decline in cardiovascular diseases. Cuba’s bio-diverse agro-ecology and forest cover exceeding 25% also counter global warming. Increasingly, people came to believe that productive, healthy harvests could be obtained on positive cost-benefit terms, while protecting the environment, without excessive energy use.