Assignment 1: What Is Developing Cuba?
8/14/13
Anth 110
The Developing Cuba
There are two crucial items that allow human beings to survive and those are water and food. Water may seem like the more important item, however, food will be emphasized throughout this paper because people have got to eat! If people aren’t eating or don’t have access to retrieve food in their country, then there is something terribly wrong. An individual could split the food issue going on in a specific country into two categories: food security and sovereignty. Food security occurs when people are allowed access of food that is safe and nutritious towards their own personal preferences so that they can live a healthy, happy life. On the other hand, food sovereignty exists when people have the …show more content…
right to healthy food that is produced with the upmost care involving efficient, sound methods. Sovereignty puts the individuals who produce, distribute, and consume at the top of the food system rather than the decisions made by the corporations and markets who most likely don’t care about the people they could affect negatively. That is why I decided to discuss the food issues that Cuba is facing because with a few adjustments, this country could yet again prosper into a sought-out island for people to live in and visit.
First I would like to discuss some brief background information of Cuba.
A country that is located in the northern Caribbean Sea, contains a population of about 11 million people. That is a larger number for such a relatively small island which could be one of the reasons why food is such an issue. Cuba also imports about 80% of its domestic requirements and the majority of imports come from Canada which was 60% in 2009. One of Cuba’s bigger exports is sugar cane which causes a problem because most of the crop lands in the country are devoted to sugar cane. This shows the impact of the government putting the country’s economy and financial status in front of the starving people living in Cuba who help maintain and distribute the sugar cane. Food sovereignty is the issue in this case because the country is not putting the people who distribute and produce the export at the heart of the food system but just those countries who …show more content…
consume.
Since the 1990s, Cuba has been attempting to regain food security and sovereignty. And it has been in due part of the many families who live in the country. About 100,000 families, which is about half of the population of independent small farmers, are members of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP). These individuals practiced agro ecological diversification methods in their respective farms which has led into an increase in production. They were producing more food per hectare than any commercial farm. These farmers have produce about 65% of the countries with only 25% of land available in the country (Altieri, Monzote, and Peterson). The discovery of agro ecological methods have proven to be the most efficient ways of producing food per unit of land, input, and labor. This is huge because with the more food being produced in the country, the less that the country has to rely on other countries to deprive them of the struggles that they face with food.
There has been a sign of gender inequality when it comes to the mal nutrition of the Cuban people.
The effects of the U.S embargo and Russia cutting off any economic support really took a toll on the Cuban economy (Rodriguez). This led to the country having to discover resources and other countries to receive imports from. Then the serious issue of nutrition took a huge jump in the population especially with pregnant women and the children. It is really sad that pregnant women were suffering more than the men in the country but that is just how it works in a male dominated society. However, the Department of Health did take a huge step by creating a special nutritional plan for pregnant women. This gave these women a special certificate that verified their pregnancy which them allowed them obtain certain food supplies such as milk, meats, fowl, and also vegetables. What made this even better was that the medical centers in Cuba constantly monitored the weight of these pregnant women and if they ever showed underweight, then they were immediately hospitalized in a nutrition ward until they gained that weight once again. This shows great strides for Cuba because it shows that they are trying to help out the community but more importantly the
women.
It is always nice to see when the FAO Director-General gives praise to Cuba’s advances against hunger. On May 4, 2013, an article was made discussing the strides that Cuba has taking to help alleviate the food crisis occurring. Jose Graziano da Silva, director of FAO, stated that, “Cuba is one of the 16 countries of the world which have already reached the 1996 World Food Summit’s goal of halving the total number of their undernourished.” This is important because it says that the country is continuing to find the balance to equalize the food distributed among people living in the country no matter how poor or rich they are. Also, Cuba’s food security today is the same as developed countries with malnutrition affecting less than 5% of the population. Cuba should be proud of the time they’re investing to make their country as profound as possible because it is too nice of an island to be dealing with food hunger.
The government in Cuba has taken great strides to help with the issues of food security and sovereignty. With examples such as reducing the amount of fields devoted to important exports such as sugar cane. The country is still suffering but with the ago ecological methods that are being used in the production of the food within the country and the fast response to other food issues, they’re on the right track. With a little more diligence and focus, I can see Cuba being one of the more reputable countries in the Caribbean.
Work Cited
"FAO.org." FAO - News Article: FAO Director-General Praises Cuba 's Advances in the Fight against Hunger. FAO, n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2013.
"World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide." Cuba. WFP, n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2013.
Altieri, Miguel; Funes-Monzote, Fernando; Petersen, Paulo. Agronomy for Sustainable Development (Springer Science & Business Media B.V.). Jan2012, Vol. 32 Issue 1, p1-13. 13p. DOI: 10.1007/s13593-011-0065-6.
Rodriquez, Clelia. Women & Environments International Magazine. Fall2003, Issue 60/61, p39-40. 2p. 3 Black and White Photographs.
Anth 110
The Developing Cuba
There are two crucial items that allow human beings to survive and those are water and food. Water may seem like the more important item, however, food will be emphasized throughout this paper because people have got to eat! If people aren’t eating or don’t have access to retrieve food in their country, then there is something terribly wrong. An individual could split the food issue going on in a specific country into two categories: food security and sovereignty. Food security occurs when people are allowed access of food that is safe and nutritious towards their own personal preferences so that they can live a healthy, happy life. On the other hand, food sovereignty exists when people have the …show more content…
right to healthy food that is produced with the upmost care involving efficient, sound methods. Sovereignty puts the individuals who produce, distribute, and consume at the top of the food system rather than the decisions made by the corporations and markets who most likely don’t care about the people they could affect negatively. That is why I decided to discuss the food issues that Cuba is facing because with a few adjustments, this country could yet again prosper into a sought-out island for people to live in and visit.
First I would like to discuss some brief background information of Cuba.
A country that is located in the northern Caribbean Sea, contains a population of about 11 million people. That is a larger number for such a relatively small island which could be one of the reasons why food is such an issue. Cuba also imports about 80% of its domestic requirements and the majority of imports come from Canada which was 60% in 2009. One of Cuba’s bigger exports is sugar cane which causes a problem because most of the crop lands in the country are devoted to sugar cane. This shows the impact of the government putting the country’s economy and financial status in front of the starving people living in Cuba who help maintain and distribute the sugar cane. Food sovereignty is the issue in this case because the country is not putting the people who distribute and produce the export at the heart of the food system but just those countries who …show more content…
consume.
Since the 1990s, Cuba has been attempting to regain food security and sovereignty. And it has been in due part of the many families who live in the country. About 100,000 families, which is about half of the population of independent small farmers, are members of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP). These individuals practiced agro ecological diversification methods in their respective farms which has led into an increase in production. They were producing more food per hectare than any commercial farm. These farmers have produce about 65% of the countries with only 25% of land available in the country (Altieri, Monzote, and Peterson). The discovery of agro ecological methods have proven to be the most efficient ways of producing food per unit of land, input, and labor. This is huge because with the more food being produced in the country, the less that the country has to rely on other countries to deprive them of the struggles that they face with food.
There has been a sign of gender inequality when it comes to the mal nutrition of the Cuban people.
The effects of the U.S embargo and Russia cutting off any economic support really took a toll on the Cuban economy (Rodriguez). This led to the country having to discover resources and other countries to receive imports from. Then the serious issue of nutrition took a huge jump in the population especially with pregnant women and the children. It is really sad that pregnant women were suffering more than the men in the country but that is just how it works in a male dominated society. However, the Department of Health did take a huge step by creating a special nutritional plan for pregnant women. This gave these women a special certificate that verified their pregnancy which them allowed them obtain certain food supplies such as milk, meats, fowl, and also vegetables. What made this even better was that the medical centers in Cuba constantly monitored the weight of these pregnant women and if they ever showed underweight, then they were immediately hospitalized in a nutrition ward until they gained that weight once again. This shows great strides for Cuba because it shows that they are trying to help out the community but more importantly the
women.
It is always nice to see when the FAO Director-General gives praise to Cuba’s advances against hunger. On May 4, 2013, an article was made discussing the strides that Cuba has taking to help alleviate the food crisis occurring. Jose Graziano da Silva, director of FAO, stated that, “Cuba is one of the 16 countries of the world which have already reached the 1996 World Food Summit’s goal of halving the total number of their undernourished.” This is important because it says that the country is continuing to find the balance to equalize the food distributed among people living in the country no matter how poor or rich they are. Also, Cuba’s food security today is the same as developed countries with malnutrition affecting less than 5% of the population. Cuba should be proud of the time they’re investing to make their country as profound as possible because it is too nice of an island to be dealing with food hunger.
The government in Cuba has taken great strides to help with the issues of food security and sovereignty. With examples such as reducing the amount of fields devoted to important exports such as sugar cane. The country is still suffering but with the ago ecological methods that are being used in the production of the food within the country and the fast response to other food issues, they’re on the right track. With a little more diligence and focus, I can see Cuba being one of the more reputable countries in the Caribbean.
Work Cited
"FAO.org." FAO - News Article: FAO Director-General Praises Cuba 's Advances in the Fight against Hunger. FAO, n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2013.
"World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide." Cuba. WFP, n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2013.
Altieri, Miguel; Funes-Monzote, Fernando; Petersen, Paulo. Agronomy for Sustainable Development (Springer Science & Business Media B.V.). Jan2012, Vol. 32 Issue 1, p1-13. 13p. DOI: 10.1007/s13593-011-0065-6.
Rodriquez, Clelia. Women & Environments International Magazine. Fall2003, Issue 60/61, p39-40. 2p. 3 Black and White Photographs.