Assessing Cuba’s Early Re-peasantisation during the Special Period and beyond (1990-2008)

Cuban peasants had a significant role model in the past as they returned to the political agenda after the Revolution, and with particular emphasis during the Special Period, to confront the lack of food imports. The fall of Communism in the wider world forced Cuba to implement an alternative agriculture model that revolutionised production patterns and decentralised land structures and commercialisation. Did these changes create opportunities for small farmers during the 1990s and early 2000s? And if so, what kinds of opportunity were created? This article assesses the initial effects of re-peasantisation in terms of increasing small farmers’ incomes and significance in numbers, and their contribution to national food production (considering production and productivity levels), from 1990 to the end of Fidel Castro’s administration.

Relations and Influences in the Process of Conventionalization of Organic Markets in the Southern Region of Brazil: A Multilevel Perspective Analysis

The organic markets from all around the world are changing fast. An example is the proliferation of standards and the entrance of new actors in the organic market, as the processors. In this paper, organic farmers, agro industries, retailers, consumers, and rural extension agents were consulted through qualitative research methods to better understand these changes and to assess the conventionalization-bifurcation process of organic markets in the Southern Region of Brazil. The relations and influences that exist between these actors were identified and analyzed. The theoretical approach used in this study comes from the Multilevel Perspective. This approach sustains that a novelty, like organic farming, can produce radical or incremental changes in a socio-technical regime, as the dominant agro-food regime, while connections between both are built. We observed that these relations and influences are of three main types: outsourcing and elongation of supply chains; restrictions in the commercialization of the farmer’s production; and the consequences, adjustments and commercial conditions established through contracts with retail chains besides commercialization in alternative networks. Through these findings, we identified a bifurcation in the organic markets where some actors demonstrate practices similar to agrifood dominant regime. In this process, the regime is changing, but so are the alternative networks. It indicates that once again the alternative agriculture is capable of reaffirmation by some ways.

A blending of Buddhism, social engagement, and alternative agriculture from Thailand: the Maap Euang Meditation Center for Sufficiency Economy

Today, across all the places where the various Buddhist schools have established themselves, there is a broad phenomenon with heterogeneous characteristics and manifestations called engaged Buddhism or socially engaged Buddhism. What unites the advocates of this movement is the way the Buddhist notion of dukkha (i.e., ‘suffering’) is interpreted to include the economic, political, social, and even ecological dimensions of suffering in the contemporary world. Engaged Buddhists have reformulated the normative teachings of dukkha to make them relevant to current issues. In this paper, I present an example of ecologically and socially engaged Theravāda Buddhism of the Maap Euang Meditation Center for Sufficiency Economy, in Thailand near Bangkok. Members of this community have developed a form of engaged Buddhism that treats ideas of “sufficiency” economy and peasant agroecology. To understand this movement, I will argue that the discipline of Buddhist Studies needs to combine the study of ancient canonical texts with the study of their contemporary interpretations.

A Sustainable Agriculture: Organic Farming: A Review

Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy and agriculture employs more than 70% of the country’s people. With the continued use of fertilizers and their negative environmental repercussions, the farming community is becoming more aware of alternative agriculture systems, such as organic farming. Organic farming is a natural farming technique that meets society’s food and nutrition demands while not diminishing natural resources. Thus, by combining organic resources with high-yielding varieties and technologies, the country was able to enhance not only its food excess, but also its environmental pollution, pesticide toxicity and agricultural production sustainability. Organic farming also feeds crops with macronutrients and micronutrients, as well as improving the physical, chemical and biological qualities of the soil. In organic farming, pest and disease management alternatives rely mainly on preventive measures rather than curative treatments, which are based on environmentally safer management strategies. The priority has been placed on maintaining the ecosystem’s health, allowing plants to become resistant to insect pests and illnesses.