How CUBA survived oil crisis ?
The greatest consumer of oil in Cuba was the agricultural sector. As a result of the sudden collapse of oil imports, food production was effectively paralysed and signs of malnutrition appeared. The crisis was termed "the Special Period".
Before the Special Period, Cuba relied on food imports to feed its people. It is only since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and with that Cuba's forced transition to permaculture and organic agriculture, that the country has really achieved food security. The transition has also provided innumerable health benefits for the Cuban people.
The Power of Community explains Cuba's transition from large farms or plantations and reliance on fossil-fuel-based pesticides and fertilizers, to small organic farms and urban gardens. Cuba has undergone a transition from a highly industrial society to an ecologically sustainable one — a transition confronting us all as peak oil approaches.
