Learning Alliances and
Regional Exchanges
Every year in Cuba there are a number of events organized around the theme of agroecology. As a global leader in agroecology science, practice and movement, Cuba presents a unique context for such exchanges, drawing a diverse array of agroecological farmers, academics and practitioners from around the world. These agroecology exchanges come in many forms, from academic conferences to farm visits to trainings/workshops to credit travel courses, but all include opportunities to exchange knowledge and experiences with Cubans active in the movement.
Part of our work as coordinator of the Cuba-US Agroecology Network (CUSAN) is to help to raise awareness about these events and to provide guidance about the logistics and regulations associated with travel to Cuba so that as many people as possible can experience for themselves the realities of the agroecology movement in Cuba.
We also organize custom exchanges with the aim of building stronger partnerships between the US, Cuba and the broader Caribbean community. Since 2015, CUSAN has helped hundreds of farmers, practitioners, academics, and students, mostly from the US, travel to Cuba as part of these exchanges.
While these agroecology events are important opportunities for exchange, they are not the only ones. Travelers to Cuba can visit certain farms by coordinating directly with them, such as with Finca del Medio, for a look at Cuban agroecology in action.
Upcoming Agroecology Travel Exchanges
Campesino a Campesino Methodology Workshop, organized by the Cuban National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) and Caribbean Agroecology Institute
October 22nd thru 28th, 2023
ANAP is offering a weeklong training workshop in the Farmer-to-Farmer (Campesino a Campesino) methodology which since the 1990s has been essential to the amplification of agroecology across Cuba. CAI is partnering with ANAP to support coordination of the training. All teaching will be done by Cuban staff and members of ANAP. This is a unique opportunity to learn from Cubans directly involved in the Campesino a Campesino movement about their successful methodology. The training will include sessions that cover the theory that supports this methodology as well as on-farm practice sessions. Please see this flyer for more information. For US residents, you will need to fill out this visa application.
Application deadline August 22, 2023.
Please contact us if you are interested in our support in organizing a customized exchange.
Past Agroecology Travel Exchanges
Cuban National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) 8th International Meeting of Agroecology, Food Sovereignty, Nutritional Education and Cooperativism
November 13-20, 2022
We will be coordinating a delegation to attend the 8th International Encounter organized by ANAP in Cuba, the National Association of Small Farmers, November 14th thru 20th, 2022. Please see here for more information. See reflections from previous participants in our 2017 and 2019 reports.
Agrodesarrollo
October 22 – 26, 2019
Centro de Convenciones Plaza América, Varadero, Cuba
The 2019 Agrodesarollo conference is being convened by the Indio Hatuey Experimental Station based out of the University of Matanzas as well as the Network of Biodigesters of Latin America and the Caribbean (RedBioLAC). The conference will focus on the theme of agroecology as the foundation for the socioecological resilience or agrarian systems. CUSAN will be organizing a delegation, please contact us for more information about attending.
Click here for more information.
Cuban National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) 7th International Meeting of Agroecology, Sustainable Agriculture and Cooperativism
November 17-23, 2019
This Biennial event will take place in Havana from November 17-23, 2019. Among the topics to be covered at the conference are family and indigenous agriculture and their role in rural development and food sovereignty, as well as the incorporation of young people and women in agroecological systems. The meeting is being organized by the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), the organization largely responsible for the agroecological movement in Cuba, which has garnered much national and international attention for its work by groups such as La Via Campesina. CUSAN will be organizing a delegation, please contact us for more information about attending.
Click here for more information.
March 3-9, 2019
Cuba-Puerto Rico-Haiti Farmer and Practitioner Exchange on Agroecological Resiliency and Climate Change
From March 3rd thru March 9th, a group of agroecology farmers and academics from Puerto Rico and Haiti, organized and sponsored by the Cuba-US Agroecology Network (CUSAN ) and the Latin American Society of Agroecology (SOCLA), embarked on a trip to Cuba to share and learn about the challenges the Caribbean islands face in the context of our changing climate. Our group of 10 visited agroecological farms across the island who are leaders in implementing a type of agriculture that builds the necessary components for a resilient agriculture and food system. In our exchanges, we shared our successes and challenges in building resilience through on farm practices, through diverse market models, through distinct cooperative systems, relations with the wider community, and with policy needs. Some of the most impressive strategies we saw were those related to energy sovereignty achieved via on farm production of energy from biodigesters, windmills, and mini-dams. We were able to see the differences between an urban farm that produces more than 30 types of vegetables for its densely populated community, a highly diverse market garden serving local social institutions and high end restaurants in Havana, and a rural permaculture farm focused on highly nutritious subsistence production that feeds their multi-generational family and their agro-tourism. Despite the diverse ways in which the farms we visited function, market, and produce, all of them are building a new way of life for rural and urban food systems by creating food sovereignty, energy sovereignty and technological sovereignty following the principles of agroecology.
May 29th - June 7th, 2018
12th Meeting on Agroecology, Organic and Sustainable Agriculture
Cuba's Association of Agricultural and Forestry Technicians (ACTAF) will host their biennial conference on Agroecology, Organic and Sustainable Agriculture in the spring of 2018. The conference will provide a space for reflection and exchange of ideas through thematic symposiums. The event will take place as Cuba begins to implement its intersecting national strategies on "Confronting Climate Change" ("Life Task", or,"Tarea Vida", in Spanish) and Agricultural Development 2030. A pre-event course & tour to agroecological sites will also be available to international participants.
March 3-9, 2019
Cuba-Puerto Rico-Haiti Farmer and Practitioner Exchange on Agroecological Resiliency and Climate Change
From March 3rd thru March 9th, a group of agroecology farmers and academics from Puerto Rico and Haiti, organized and sponsored by the Cuba-US Agroecology Network (CUSAN ) and the Latin American Society of Agroecology (SOCLA), embarked on a trip to Cuba to share and learn about the challenges the Caribbean islands face in the context of our changing climate. Our group of 10 visited agroecological farms across the island who are leaders in implementing a type of agriculture that builds the necessary components for a resilient agriculture and food system. In our exchanges, we shared our successes and challenges in building resilience through on farm practices, through diverse market models, through distinct cooperative systems, relations with the wider community, and with policy needs. Some of the most impressive strategies we saw were those related to energy sovereignty achieved via on farm production of energy from biodigesters, windmills, and mini-dams. We were able to see the differences between an urban farm that produces more than 30 types of vegetables for its densely populated community, a highly diverse market garden serving local social institutions and high end restaurants in Havana, and a rural permaculture farm focused on highly nutritious subsistence production that feeds their multi-generational family and their agro-tourism. Despite the diverse ways in which the farms we visited function, market, and produce, all of them are building a new way of life for rural and urban food systems by creating food sovereignty, energy sovereignty and technological sovereignty following the principles of agroecology.
November 19-25, 2017
4th International Conference of Agroecology
In November, CUSAN coordinated the attendance of over 50 delegates from across the US (as well as from Haiti and Denmark) at the National Small Farmers' Association (ANAP) Encounter on Agroecology, Sustainable Agriculture and Cooperativism. Every two years, this event brings together farmers, academics, activists and NGO representatives from around the world at the ANAP Training Center in Güira de Melena, Artemisa, Cuba. In all, 250 delegates, from 19 countries, participated this year. We enjoyed field visits to agroecological farms, cooperatives, small processing plants and distribution centers in all 15 provinces of Cuba, where we were welcomed with gracious hospitality and witnessed incredible innovation, cooperation and ingenuity.
This year's conference commemorated the 20th anniversary of the arrival of the Farmer-to-Farmer movement in Cuba from its origins in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The delegates and ANAP leaders and organizers alike were honored to hear closing remarks from Don Felipe Tomás Mux of Guatemala, the founder and father of the Farmer-to-Farmer movement. The final declaration of the Encounter concluded that "Agroecology is our alternative way to build a world based on mutual respect, social justice, equality, solidarity and harmony with nature." We couldn't agree more.
April 18-21, 2017
Cuban Urban, Suburban, and Family Agriculture Congress
The Institute for Fundamental Research in Tropical Agriculture "Alejandro de Humboldt" (INIFAT in Spanish) is hosting its 3rd International Congress on Urban, Suburban and Family Agriculture at the Havana International Conference Center in Havana, Cuba. This Congress will provide the opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences among researchers, professors, businessmen, students and producers linked with farming science.
In conjunction with the Congress, INIFAT will also be hosting its 15th Scientific Meeting. The Scientific Meeting will include master lectures, workshops, round tables, poster presentations, as well as pre-Congress courses led by highly experienced professors and researchers.
Main Topics include:
- Urban Agriculture and Climate Change
- Local Food Production
- Management, preservation and use of genetic resources
- Seed Production as biodiversity base
- Agroecology
- Disease and Pest management
The Congress will also be hosting a large Scientific and Commercial Exposition in the main lobby of the Havana International Conference Center featuring companies, institutions and other entities exhibiting and marketing their products, technologies and services.
The working languages of the Congress are Spanish and English. Click here for more information (in Spanish) on the event. For further details, please contact [email protected]
October 23-30, 2016
Agrodesarollo 2016 - International Convention hosted by Indio Hautey
Indio Hatuey Agricultural Research Station (a science and technology organization of the University of Matanzas), is hosting its 4th International Convention AGRODESARROLLO 2016, taking place from October 23 to 30, 2016, in Varadero, Cuba. The Convention includes a pre-event tour (October 23-24), scientific fair (October 25-28) and post-event course (October 28-30).
The focus of the conference is ''Agroenergy as the Basis of Sustainable Agricultural Development" and will include the following topics:
- Agroenergy, climate change and food sovereignty.
- Integrated agroecological systems for food and energy production.
- Sustainable rural development and family agriculture for human welfare.
- Gender equity and inclusion in agriculture.
- Agricultural production with emphasis on the use of livestock production agroforestry systems.
- Sustainable management of agricultural and livestock production lands.
- Local agricultural innovation and extension work on agroecological bases.
- Agroecological practices for animal and plant health.
January 2016
University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Ecological Economics
Launching a long-term research program in Cuba
VCI is collaborating with The Gund Institute for Ecological Economics in establishing a joint research program with Cuban scholars and leaders to understand how the island’s social, economic, and ecological systems are connected, and how they are changing. Cuba’s society and economy holds lessons for global sustainability. Over the past several years, through a combination of outside forces, domestic polices, and grassroots innovations, the island nation has developed low-input agriculture, a low-carbon economy, protection of coastal ecosystems, progress in partial reforestation, and remarkable levels of literacy and health care. The recent rapprochement between Cuba and the United States raises the possibility of rapid change to this social-ecological system. To better understand these issues, the Gund Institute engaged with Cuban partners to establish a long-term interdisciplinary research program. This collaborative effort builds capacity among scholars, students, and institutions, and will generate lessons that can inform policy options in this dynamic time. To launch this program, 10 scholars from the Gund Institute visited Cuba in January 2016 aiming to deepen our grasp of the country’s sustainability challenges, understand ongoing efforts and needs, and connect further with Cuban leaders and collaborators.
September 2015
Ludwig Artist Exchange Program
SEABA exhibit, September 2015
For several years, VCI has partnered with the Cuban based Ludwig Foundation which serves a large community of artists in Cuba. This exchange program supports Cuban artists to spend a month in Vermont learning English, volunteering with local NGOs and exhibiting their work. In September 2015, two young Cuban artists - one a photographer and film-maker and the other a musician - exhibited a photography and sound show at SEABA's 2015 Art Hop that took a comparative look at entrepreneurship in Havana, Cuba and Burlington, Vermont, highlighting unique features of each city's small entrepreneurs and drawing parallels between the two. The artists also volunteered with the local nonprofit Migrant Justice, filming and editing a short documentary about the organizations mission to support migrant farm workers in Vermont.
November 2015
Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange Program
In November 2015 VCI served as the Via Campesina organizer of the US delegation to the International Conference in Cuba on Agroecology organized by the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP). Sixty-eight participants from the US attended, representing urban and rural organic farmers from across the country, as well as NGO representatives and academics. VCI also worked with the Cuba-US Agroecology Network (CUSAN) to coordinate the event, with 10 members of CUSAN attending the conference.
July 2015
Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange Program
In July 2015, VCI hosted the director of Indio Hautey Agricultural Research Station, Giraldo Martin, and a researcher, Luis Hernandez, for a 4-day visit to learn about the use of biogas on farms in Vermont, in order to inform the Cuban national biogas project they lead, The visit also included learning about Community Supported Agriculture, Food Hubs, and Food Cooperatives. During this trip, a Memorandum of Understanding between VCI and Indio Hautey was signed which outlines specific areas for future collaborative work.
April 2015
Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange Program
In April 2015, VCI partnered with Americas Media Initiative and coordinated the Vermont leg of the documentary tour "Tierralismo: Stories from a Cooperative Farm", a film about one of the most successful urban farms in Havana - Alamar Organoponico. The lead farmer, Isis Salcines, toured with the film and was able to spend a week meeting with innovative farmers and food system initiatives in Vermont.
March 2015
Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange Program
In March 2015, VCI traveled to Cuba with three organic farmers from Vermont to expand partnerships and collaboratively identify areas of future work for mutual exchange and learning opportunities around best practices for organic agriculture and sustainable food systems. We met with government agencies, NGOs, research institutes and farmers.