Talk:Economy of Cuba

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Contents 1 Comment 1 2 Comment 2 3 GDP growth is probably wrong... 4 Cuba and Foreign Debt 5 Doctors 6 Relationship with China 7 Wikipedia:Cleanup

[edit] Comment 1

There is very little about agriculture in this article. As far as I know, the lack of fertilizer led the government to concentrate on organic farming in the 90s. Does anyone know more about this? Burschik 07:08, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I agree. I just added a paragraph to the summary article, Cuba. I've been working on organic farming and related articles on Wikipedia, and the absence of the Cuban "organic revolution" is noticeable, here and elsewhere. I have no first-hand knowledge of the situation, but what I gather, from lots of online sources (including directly from people on farming mailing lists), Cuba is pretty much the one and only textbook example of large-scale organic agriculture working, and doing so after a rapid transition (practically one year to the next), from a very industrialized, conventional ag industry.

Apparently, Cuba was using lots of imported oil for mechanization, and fully relying on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, also mostly imported. Their ag industry was described as being comparable to the advanced operations in Central Valley (main US ag production center in California). All of this was mainly going into tobacco and sugar production, for export, for which they got highly subsidized rates (billions of dollars a year), plus oil, from Russia, and they were importing 60% or more of their own food. So, with the collapse of Russia, in one shot, no oil, no chemicals, no food, no money. Faced with starvation, they had to immediately reorganize their ag industry, done of course at a goverment level. The steps they took are consistent with a lot of the basic pro-organic goals, ideals and recommendations in the Western world.

The whole thing involved a combination of massive decentralization, and a concerted, top-down effort to the grassroots level.

• A lot of farmland was given to individual farmers and small groups, and urban land, like abandoned lots, were made into mini-market garden projects (Western organic movement equivalents: local food, small-scale, family farm).
• The scientific community focussed on domestic, organic substitutes and alternatives for synthetic fertilizer and pesticide (focussing significant academic research on organic solutions).
• To deal with gas and parts shortages, plow animals were given higher tech farm gear to use (less reliance on fossil fuels, sustainability).

All this seems to have worked. I'm not sure whether conventional chemical ag is used for export crops like tobacco and sugar, but the organic stuff at least applies to all food, including livestock. And I believe, at least for food, organic agricultural methods are currently mandated by law.

Interesting also, if obvious, is that the role of the farmer has changed dramatically. They are in the top 10% economically, and are highly respected. This is in contrast to the decimated and downtrodden rural farming class in North America and elsewhere.

Now, Cuba is considered the world expert on large-scale organic ag, and is visited by delegations from various countries. The political situation with the US probably has something to do with the relatively low profile of this situation.

This really deserves more investigation and thorough coverage! --Tsavage 19:31, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Comment 2

I have a fairly deep knowledge of Cuba's Agricultural sector, having taken Graduate coursework in this area. I will be certain to work on this article and finish up by the end of the summer, adding substantial amounts of information. It is a long wait, but I will likely change the article beyond recognition. I plan to discuss organic & urban farming; different forms of land ownership & production (CPAs, UBPCs, CCSs, etc.), as well as past forms, reasons for change, and differences in levels of production. I will also discuss the history of agriculture generally and the current state of agriculture today, includings its sectors, affect on Cuba generally, and foreign investment. Is there anything else I can discuss that persons would like to know about? takethemud 04:13, 9 March 2006 (UTC)takethemud

[edit] GDP growth is probably wrong...

The 11.8% growth in GDP is only announced by cuban government. It could have been boosted for propaganda purpose. For example cia factbook says there were only 5.2% [1]. Of course, CIA stats could be also biased against cuba...

[edit] Cuba and Foreign Debt

The paragraph on Cuban foreign debt assumes that Cuba would like to recieve loans from international lenders like the World Bank, this idea makes no sense. Why would Cuba want to indebt itself to organizations that promote market reforms? That would be contradictory to Cuba's communist ideology. Why is there nothing mentioned of Cuba having avoided much of the debt that has crippled third world developement? Surely this is an important feature of the Cuban economy.

[edit] Doctors

There is something peculiarly misleading about labeling Cuban doctors exchanged voluntarily for oil with Venezuela, as propaganda.

Cuba's health care system is one of the most advanced in the world. Patients from Latin America and else where, travel to Cuba in order to receive medical care. Moreover, Cuban doctors do indeed voluntarily travel to other contries to administer medical care and to train medical students.

Cuba's health indicators rank it alongside many 1st world countries. They also have the largest amount of doctors working abroad in the world (might be most per capita, as opposed to total number, but either way, it is something an updated article would include.) takethemud 05:17, 10 March 2006 (UTC)takethemud

[edit] Relationship with China

I've heard they recently got an economic sweetheart deal with China, does anyone know about this?130.238.5.5 06:27, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia:Cleanup

This article is poorly written, organized and out of date. The section on the cuban economy on the Cuba page is significantly better. Is there any purpose to this article remaining unless it is completely redone?--dr. yesterday 09:41, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Please see my above comment. When time permits (hopefully over the summer), I will gut this article as much as is necessary to make it clean, readable, and neutral. takethemud 04:16, 9 March 2006 (UTC)takethemud

My congradulations! It's much better now. User:Merlov 17:14, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

all your base are belong to Raul Castro