Identifying agroecological mixed farming strategies for local conditions in San Antonio de Los Baños, Cuba

Abstract

Building on previous research at the experimental and national scales, this study was carried out at the local scale over a four-year period on three farms of reference: one specialized dairy farm ‘Vaquería 10’ (33.7 ha) and two mixed farms, ‘Remedio’ (9.4 ha) and ‘La Sarita’ (47 ha). All three farms are located in the San Antonio de Los Baños municipality, Havana, Cuba. This study illustrates the application of the Ecological Framework for the Assessment of Sustainability (ECOFAS). This methodology consists of a cyclical structure of six steps, aimed at guiding the process of implementing innovative mixed (crop–livestock) farming strategies. Local stakeholders (farmers, researchers, extension officers and representatives of the ministry of agriculture in the municipality) identified alternative strategies for agriculture in the region, based on the critical technological, environmental and socio-economic factors constraining the current performance of farming systems. The results show that implementation of ‘best practice’ mixed farming systems management strategies in the region potentially can lead to a strong positive impact on land productivity, food self-sufficiency as well as improve socio-economic performance.

Keywords:

• agroecology
• crop–livestock integration
• dairy production
• local innovation
• participatory action research
• sustainability indicators

Notes

The Agriculture Cooperative Law defines a CCS as a voluntary association of independent small farm households, for mutual economic support. Members own their individual assets (property, equipment), and cultivate their own land (Álvarez, 2002).

The UBPCs are production units with a cooperative structure that farm state land that was given free of charge in permanent usufruct (the average size is substantially smaller that the former state farms, which were partitioned to form the UBPCs) (Martin, 2002).

If the indicator is to be maximized (e.g. protein output), the value of the indicator is expressed as percentage of the maximum value (% = Value/Max × 100). If the indicator is to be minimized (e.g. energy cost of protein), the value of the indicator is expressed as the inverse of the percentage of the minimum value (% = 1/(Value/Min) × 100).