Campesino a CampesinoMovement

Organized People Access to productive land

Importance of secure land tenure Access to a guaranteed market

Empowerment of communities & social organization of production

Campesina/family agriculture as a base for economic development

Mobilization of indigenous knowledge

Asociación Nacional de Agricultores Pequeños

1961

#Cooperatives

#Socios

CPA 1106 65,560

CCS 3249 261,829

Total 4355 327,389

UBPC 2641 n.a.

Unlike so many other countries, in Cuba there is no risk that peasants will disappear

Their principal ally is the State, which gave land, credit, subsidized prices, markets, AND fosters campesino identity

Origins of Campesino a Campesino Movement

1972 World Neighbors & soil conservationist Don Marcos Orozco trained Kaqchikel Mayan campesinos in Guatemala as farmer-extensionists Lack of trust of outside intervention

Carried out own experiments on own plots, then taught neighbors by demonstration & small-scale experimentation

Kaqchikel promotors put on village workshops using theory & hands-on experience

Visiting campesinos trained, then returned to their own countries Mexico, Honduras, Panama, Costa

Rica, Nicaragua

C a C in Cuba 1995 ANAP invited

Mexican C a C to sponsor a workshop in Cuba

1996 1st C a C workshop in Cuba

Began with urban campesinos around Havana

Bread for the World (German NGO) supported teaching the methodology

Links cooperatives, campesino-promotors, facilitators, & program coordinators

“People worked out of pure solidarity & altruism. At that moment Cuba was going through a very critical period. Our urban economy had hit bottom. We started giving workshops & gave people three months to put what they learned into practice”

C a C Agroecology Movement Integrated into

ANAP In 1997 ANAP

sponsored the VII Regional Congress of the Campesino a Campesino movement

In 2000 ANAP began its promotion of the agroecological program in the Province Villa Clara & held the 1st national C a C promotor meeting in Villa Clara

C a C Philosophy Based on theoretical & practical work

of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire Horizontal communication between

learner & teacher Praxis of reflection-

action-reflextion for political consciousness & social transformation

“Do more with less”

Why Campesino a Campesino?

It is an efficient method to transmit knowlege horizontally with potential to join together capacity and mobilization of campesino organization

Horizontal Teaching & Learning

C a C is a participatory process involving campesinos

The most important actor is the promotor—a productive leader who experiments, is a teacher, and receiver of knowledge

Promotion through practical demonstration, “learning by doing” is the central axis for the process

Campesino a Campesino Program in Cuba

216 95,000

13 3,052

27 8000

Promotors are campesinos & members of cooperatives who live by their work and assume a commitment to solidarity with their associatesThey promote by teaching &

demonstrating agroecological techniquesTheir effectiveness is measured by techniques applied in the promotor’s finca as pedagogical tools & the number of campesinos who apply the tecniques

Yeikel, 18, Youth Worker

How is it Done?

Begin slowly and at a small scale

Achieve rapid and recognizable success

Limit the introduction of technologies

Develop a multiplier effect

Workshops as a means to demonstrate methods & techniques

Nearly all C a C production is organic

Agroecological knowledge generated is the basis for methodology & dissemination of techniques, but ALSO challenges the centralized, hierarchical structures of formal agriculture

CampesinoA

Campesino

CampesinoA

Campesino

To take maximum advantage of the resources of the finca

Production in harmony with the environment

Improved production with reduction of costs & increase in campesino income

Integration of the family and support for the campesino

Development of local culture

What Makes It All Work? Cuba maintains relative economic

equality for all, offers State assistance in the form of free education, free health care, and guaranteed employment, sends its highly skilled medical and environmental specialists around the world to help other nations, and in the wake of Soviet collapse and the sudden loss of essential resources, put into place an environmentally sustainable, chemical-free, organic agricultural system that turns attention to the causes of inequity, poverty, and food scarcity

The work involved in revolutionizing food production requires careful integration of laboratory testing and analysis, scientific knowledge, experimentation, and practical experience. Essential to this effort is its recognition as a popular movement oriented to social production. Thus prioritization of the social good over individual accumulation constitutes one factor that makes the system work.

Cuban agroecology maintains a self-sustaining production system, remarkably knowledgeable people, and a totally integrated methodology for producing food—most fields are intercropped to capture the benefits of their symbiotic relationships and to control pests. All inputs, from fertilizer to biopesticides, are created on the farm and used within it. People are committed to food self-sufficiency, rather than profit, and their hearts and souls are devoted to that end. They are passionate about ensuring that everyone has food and that foods produced are healthy and chemical free.

The success of organic technologies rests in the social matrix. One of the goals is to equalize relations between technicians and campesinos. Extensionists and other professionals value local, traditional knowledge and they and the campesinos work cooperatively to find solutions. A social consciousness places people and nature above material wealth. It is a system that is socially just, grounded in culture, and aims for equity.

Elimination of food shortages and the positive results serve as a social incentive to persist. Numerous people informed us that material accumulation was not their goal, but rather a social benefit to the entire population. Our site visits included a number of producers who grow food for others, such as cooperatives, schools, and hospitals.

Globalizamos la Lucha!