Urban, suburban and family agriculture. Its contribution to the feeding of the Cuban population
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Abstract
Urban, suburban and family agriculture has become an important alternative for food security in an urbanized planet. In Cuba, it has been consolidated since 1994 as an intensive production system, whose mission is to contribute to local self-sufficiency in agricultural products. The purpose of this article is to analyze the results of key indicators of the system of Urban, Suburban and Family Agriculture in Cuba and the role played by this system in meeting the food needs of the Cuban population. To this end, a review of documents was made, historical series of six indicators of this system were elaborated and trend analyses were carried out. In order to know the consumers' perception of the system and its role in the satisfaction of food needs, a survey of 10 direct, closed, multiple-choice and unipolar questions was designed and applied to a sample of 207 consumers in three provinces of the country. The main results were that, except for one indicator with a downward trend, the others showed an upward trend over the years analyzed, maintaining the production levels of fresh vegetables and condiments. Similarly, it was confirmed by the perception of consumers that urban, suburban and family agriculture is currently one of the main sources of fresh and safe food for the Cuban population.
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