Family Farms and the Conservation of Agrobiodiversity in Cuba: Food Security and Nature

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Urbano Fra Paleo Leonor Castiñeiras

Family Farms and the Conservation of Agrobiodiversity in Cuba

Food Security and Nature

Urbano Fra Paleo, Leonor Castiñeiras

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Routledge
18 December 2024

Development studies; Hispanic & Latino studies; Agriculture & related industries; Biodiversity; Agricultural science

Series: Issues in Agricultural Biodiversity

This highly original volume investigates and documents the complex interactions between small family farms and Man and Biosphere Reserves in Cuba.

Covering over two decades of research in agriculture and biodiversity conservation in Cuba, this book provides a unique case study about sustainable agriculture. It shows how the agricultural biodiversity maintained in situ by family farms within those protected areas provides a strategic source of crop genetic resources, including seeds and planting materials, as well as agroecological knowledge and practices. Agricultural practices within and around the Biosphere Reserves have helped to promote local food security through healthier and more diverse food production, while contributing to the conservation of biodiversity and of ecosystems. The book also reports on the adoption of transdisciplinary methods, combining ecological, agronomic, and socio-economic research, along with participatory methods involving farmers in research to document ethnobotanical and farmer knowledge, revealing rich spots of agrobiodiversity maintained in landscapes, seed systems, and nurseries managed by farmers. It covers a range of ecosystems and biocultural landscapes from arid tropics, tropical hillsides and savannas, montane rainforests, and coastal areas. It examines how family farms in diverse Cuban ecosystems use biodiversity, agro-ecological knowledge, and techniques while sustaining natural and farming landscapes in a scenario of climate change, frequent disasters, and socio-economic and policy changes.

This book will be most suitable for those studying or interested in farming practices, biodiversity conservation, food security, agrobiodiversity, and sustainable development, as well as in Cuban studies.

Edited by: Urbano Fra Paleo, Leonor Castiñeiras
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781032561646
ISBN 10: 1032561645
Series: Issues in Agricultural Biodiversity
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 18 December 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Urbano Fra Paleo is a retired Professor of Human Geography from the University of Extremadura, Spain. He is a member of the European Science and Technology Group (E-STAG), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR); Honorary Research Fellow of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Senior Research Fellow of the Earth System Governance Project, and Member of the Academia Europaea. Leonor Castiñeiras is a biologist with a PhD in Agricultural Sciences. She worked as Scientific Researcher leading the Plant Genetic Resources Unit at the Instituto de Investigaciones Fundamentales en Agricultura Tropical Alejandro de Humboldt (INIFAT) in La Habana, Cuba. She has coordinated various international projects in partnership with Bioversity International (formerly IPGRI) on the characterization of genetic resources with particular focus on traditional varieties and their seed systems.