VENEZUELA:
Cabbages and Peppers at Feet of Skyscrapers

Yensi Rivero*


CARACAS,  (Tierramérica) - Long plant beds holding cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, peppers, onions and cucumbers extend along the foundations of some of the tallest buildings in the Venezuelan capital -- the 60-storey twin towers of Central Park -- across the street from a bustling subway station.

The soil and the plants serve as a sort of window on a governmental experiment in self-sufficiency for the urban population, though critics say it is a very costly ”folkloric” endeavour.

This pilot ”organoponic” project is under way at three emblematic buildings in the capital, and is a reminder of Venezuela's agricultural past: 70 years ago, farms and gardens still penetrated the landscape of a city that is now mostly cement and steel.

The organic material for the gardens is a mix of composted plant waste, livestock manure and earthworm humus.

”This material is mixed with a plant-based layer and placed in containers, plots of land or pits in unproductive areas,” Caridad Vásquez, a Cuban agronomist who is a consultant for the Caracas garden project, told Tierramérica.

The Cuban experience in urban gardening provided the term ”organoponic”, which distinguishes this effort of organic production in reduced spaces from other types of organic farming.

On the pilot project's half hectare, with plant beds measuring 40 cm deep, 120 cm long and 40 cm wide, eight people from the Trabajo y Tierra (Work and Land) cooperative have produced 10 to 25 kilos of food per square meter over the past year.

>From behind the colourful counter at the site, where they sell the vegetables, Noralí Verenzuela told Tierramérica that the project ”is an innovative plan so that people acquire the habit of better nutrition by producing their own food.”

The garden provides an alternative for the residents of two nearby neighbourhoods -- one a working-class district, the other, middle class -- and for passers-by looking for economical prices, and customers include ”even people opposed to the government,” says Verenzuela.

This new ”urban farmer” recognises that the plan has been linked to the political interests of President Hugo Chávez. ”That's why sometimes there is rejection.”

The city garden inaugurated in March 2003 has come under verbal fire from some sectors of the political opposition, who charge that urban agricultural plans do not resolve the deep problems affecting Venezuela's rural farmers.

The opposition Confederation of Agricultural Producers Associations says there has been ”improvisation in agricultural policy and wasted resources. It has gone from good intentions with our flagship products to a set of folkloric propositions, which underscore the 19th-century nature of this sector-specific strategy.”

These ”flagship” products -- which the government prioritises with technical and financial supports -- include sugar, rice, cacao, palm oil, cattle, fishing and aquaculture.

The critics also point to the costs of the urban gardens, which they estimate required an investment of more than 300,000 dollars.

Although the government has not provided figures on costs, a portion of the material and labour and international assessment were reportedly provided as loans from state institutions, including the armed forces.

In late 2002, Chávez suggested that Venezuelans living in low-income neighbourhoods could build ”vertical chicken coops in a corner of the house” for family consumption. And he insists on the importance of urban gardens, citing the success of the Cuban experience.

In Cuba, ”every neighbourhood has an organoponic crop. On patios and in gardens of Cuban homes, one can find anything from medicinal plants to fresh herbs and spices,” said Vásquez.

”Cuba brought to this part of the world an idea that is very well known in some Asian countries, like China, Taiwan and Indonesia,” Robert Torrealba, who is in charge or promoting urban gardening technique in the western state of Lara, told Tierramérica.



One of the advantages of the organoponic garden, said Verenzuela, is that it promotes consumption of foods that do not have chemical residues.

”We don't use pesticides or chemical fertilisers. Our products are healthy and fresher because it goes directly from the soil to the consumer. Sometimes we see beautiful vegetables in supermarkets, but they have been treated with chemicals and many come from genetically modified seeds,” she said.

”As the Venezuelan population becomes more aware of the importance of the environment, health and quality of life, they will consume more organoponic products,” said the Cuban consultant Vásquez.

Seeds for the Caracas urban gardens were provided by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, which serves as an adviser to the project and promotes experiences like this as a means to fight hunger in poor countries.

Despite its vast petroleum wealth, Venezuela is highly dependent on imported foods. Several studies indicate that half of what Venezuelans eat comes from abroad.

The Chávez government says the country cannot continue to import such large quantities of food, and is pressing the Central Bank to earmark funds to finance agricultural programs.

* Yensi Rivero is an IPS contributor. Originally published Feb. 21 by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.)