At the scale of a city one can observe the relative distribution of urban agriculture sites in relation to each other and to other urban land use. At the scale of a single urban agriculture site, layout, form and materiality can be observed, and finally, at the human scale, the edges across which interactions occur, between citizen, cultivator and cultivated landscape, can be observed.
One of the issues we wanted to establish was how big urban agriculture plots need to be to provide full-time employment and be economically viable.
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Table 17.1
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Size
|
Location
|
Farmers
|
Use of crops
|
Yield
|
|
State farms for
|
1 hectare or
|
Peri-urban
|
Voluntary
|
Feed state
|
1996:
|
|
producers
|
more
|
|
cultivation by
|
workers,
|
0.34 kg/
|
|
consumption
|
|
|
workers
|
support day-
|
m2.yr
|
|
‘Autoconsumo
|
|
|
|
care centres,
|
|
|
s Estatales’
|
|
|
|
homes for
|
2000:
|
|
|
|
|
elderly, and
|
0.6 kg/
|
|
|
|
|
facilities for new born babies, surplus sold to workers
|
m2.yr
|
|
Community
|
Less than
|
Urban or peri-
|
One person or
|
To supply
|
1996:
|
|
gardens
|
1000 m2
|
urban, vacant
|
family
|
cultivator or
|
1-2 kg/
|
|
(plots)
|
|
lots,
|
|
family
|
m2.yr
|
|
‘Huertos
|
|
unexploited
|
|
|
|
|
Populares
|
|
area within
|
|
|
2000:
|
|
(Parcela)’
|
|
educational
|
|
|
8-12 kg/
|
|
|
or health facilities. State owned or private
|
|
|
m2.yr
|
|
Community
|
Typically
|
Urban or peri-
|
One person or
|
Feed
|
1996:
|
|
gardens
|
between
|
urban, state
|
family, several
|
producers and
|
1-2 kg/
|
|
(intensive
|
1000 m2 and
|
owned or
|
families or co-
|
for trade
|
m2.yr
|
|
cultivation
garden)
|
3000 m2
|
private land
|
operative
|
|
2000:
|
|
‘Huertos
|
|
|
|
|
8-12 kg/
|
|
Populares
(Huerto
Intensivo)’
|
|
|
|
|
m2.yr
|
|
Urban
|
Typically
|
Vacant urban
|
Groups of
|
Produce for
|
1996:
|
|
community
|
between
|
sites, not
|
individuals
|
trade and
|
3 kg/m2.yr
|
|
garden
|
2000 m2 and
|
suitable for
|
formed into a
|
small-scale
|
|
|
‘Organoponic
|
5000 m2
|
direct
|
collective.
|
consumption
|
2000:
|
|
os Populares’
|
|
agriculture
|
Institutional
|
by producers
|
20 kg/
|
|
|
use, require
|
technical
|
|
m2. yr
|
|
|
imported soil
|
support and
|
|
|
|
|
and
containers
|
advice
|
|
|
|
|
Table 17.1 continued
|
Size
|
Location
|
Farmers
|
Use of crops
|
Yield
|
|
High yield
|
Typically
|
Government
|
Commercially
|
Produce for
|
1994:
|
|
urban
|
over
|
allotted
|
viable work
|
sale to the
|
12 kg/m2.yr
|
|
gardens
|
10 000 m2
|
vacant urban
|
centres or
|
population and
|
|
|
Organoponic os de Alto Rendimiento’
|
|
sites, not suitable for direct agriculture use, soil and containers for growing brought in
|
co-operatives
|
tourist sector
|
2000: 25 kg/ m2.yr
|
Source-. Caridad Cruz and Sanchez Medina (2003)
|
In addition to this we were interested in the precise layouts adopted to facilitate efficient growing and the patterns of crop rotation to judge how seasonality is reflected on the ground.
At a smaller scale we wanted to observe the interface between the urban agriculture plots and the city’s inhabitants. We were interested in finding out how the city and its population interact with these plots.
Our studies began in Havana, and we then moved to Cienfuegos, a provincial city south of Havana, which has been referred to as the capital of urban agriculture in Cuba (Socorro Castro, 2001) and finally we visited Rodas, a small rural town near Cienfuegos.
