Can food sovereignty be institutionalised? Insights from the Cuban experience

Abstract

[EN] Cuba stands out among Latin American nations for itsefforts to institutionalize food sovereignty (FS) through thepromotion of alternative small-scale farming, making it aprime case study for this model. This paper examines theextent to which Cuba has institutionalized FS and the fac-tors driving this process from an agrarian political economyperspective. Public policies, sustainable practices and keyactors—including a ‘partner state’—have advanced agro-ecology as a core strategy to reduce food imports since theearly 1990s. However, other entities, such as the militaryenterprise Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.(GAESA), may be seen as obstacles to this strategy. Whilstthese struggles and tensions are not unique to Cuba, theisland stands out for its decisive steps in institutionalizingFS. Cuba has achieved significant ‘pockets’ or ‘spaces’ ofFS, despite lacking a fully consolidated domestic foodsystem