After a very long hiatus I’m relaunching CityFarmBoy, inspired by my recent trip to Cuba where I had the privilege of touring Alamar, a 25 acre organic urban farm in Havana. I was struck by how a resource poor country with one of the most highly educated and healthy people on the planet are struggling with growing and providing its country with a sustainable source of nutritious food. It isn’t that the Cuban people don’t want or need this, it’s the fact that traditional agricultural workers are no longer interested in this as a profession and consequently there is crisis in both agricultural food production as well as in the agricultural workforce. Alamar is a prime example of how a sustainable urban agricultural enterprise can address the needs of the population.
Alamar is a cooperative venture that was founded in the early 1990’s, largely in part due to the fall of the former Soviet Union and the loss of subsidies to the Cuban government. Originally a vacant lot, Alamar started with 5 people farming about 800 square meters of land from the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture and supported by multiple non-governmental organizations. Today it is about 10 hectares – about 25 acres and created 170 jobs in the community that it is located in. Alamar primarily produces vegetables but also ornamental plants, fruit trees, medicinal, and spiritual-based plants. It also manufactures a modicum of herbs and spices from the plants grown on the farm, and operates an on-site produce market. Farm products are also sold at local farmers markets, schools, workplaces, and hospitals.
As a co-op, Alamar’s assembly meets monthly to conduct its business that includes reporting on production, profitability and finances, and resource allocation. It also reviews and approves the acceptance of new coop members. Co-op members receive a monthly salary and profit-shares based on longevity on the farm.
Alamar relies solely on organic farming practices that includes composting manure from steer and rabbits raised on the farm, growing and using pest repellant plants, and applying farm-raised ladybugs to combat insect pests. They employ a philosophy of encouraging and cultivating bio-diversity practices as a foundation for sustainable production of food sources.
Here are a few photos from Alamar:
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