5.B Cuba Vs UK

Question 1

Cuba - background

Answer 1

• 1960s - highly industrialised relied on former USSR for fuel, fertilisers and pesticides
• 1991 - USSR collapsed = decline of 50% oil and 85% external trade
• calorie intake fell from 3012 - 2325 1989-1993 and rose to 3277 in 2011
• 90% self-sufficient in fruit and veg but still large imports of meat and dairy
• 2008 - spent $2.2B on imports

Question 2

Cuba - challenges

Answer 2

• monoculture = soil degradation (sugar plantations)
• increased severe weather (hurricanes and tornadoes)
• lack of mechanisation
• shortage of foreign exchange needed to buy imported food
• inefficient state-owned farms - tomato crop 2012 rotted as trucks failed to collect on time
• insufficient food shops
• existence of ‘black market’

Question 3

Cuba - methods to increase food security

Answer 3

• urban agriculture
• changes in land tenure
• new crops
• support for farmers

Question 4

Cuba - urban agriculture

Answer 4

• small urban farms (organoponics) - small scale co-operatives producing fruit and veg
  eg - Viveca Alamar organoponics
• owned by locals = food to loads and not state owned
• supports permaculture - food production in a closed loop that’s sustainable

Question 5

Cuba - changes in land tenure

Answer 5

• state owned to locals small scale co-operatives
• 10,000 acres of rent free land leased from state
• 15% of land arable privately owned - no reliance on government distribution
• 6Mha of flat land - 1/2 cultivated

Question 6

Cuba - New Crops

Answer 6

• drought resistant crops - avocado, orange and guava
• wind resistant and rain in hurricane seasons - sweet potato, squash
• GM crops - GM corn planted across 14 provinces

Question 7

Cuba - support for farmers

Answer 7

• government raised guaranteed prices
• assistances from PALMA - providing irrigation systems and rents equipment to drill bore holes
• specialism in research and tracking in agro-ecology

Question 8

UK food security issues

Answer 8

• lack of healthy eating
• need for resilience
• profitable competitive food system
• unsustainability increasing

Question 9

UK background

Answer 9

• 2009 - UK gov published a consultation doc ‘food 2030’ = issues of food security
• imports of 40% = x3 more than exports = need to produce 2/3rd more or eat 40% less
• importing cheaper than home sourced: lamb from Wales is more expensive than meat from New Zealand

Question 10

UK - improvements for producers

Answer 10

• grow more food per hectare sustainably with less energy and water use
• GM crops, increasing crop varieties, livestock breeds and food innovation
• farming on natural ecosystems = inputs protected and enhanced
• improve, develop and maintain infrastructure to reduce pinch points

Question 11

UK - improvements for consumer

Answer 11

• decrease food waste
• amend dietary issues
• increase availability of organic produce
• cut supply chain - source food locally and regionally
• small independent food - farmers markets
• eat seasonally

Question 12

UK - reducing food waste

Answer 12

• recycling composts
• removing stigma of sell by dates
• food waste to food banks
• flexible food prices - ‘last chance’ reduced’ section

Question 13

UK - dietary issues

Answer 13

• increase fish intake
• develop aquaculture industries = combining fish farming and hydroponics, growing lettuce in water
• increased information on nutritional content of food - sugar, salt and fat