Agroecology as a Tool of Sovereignty and Resilience in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

Two members of Organización Boricuá, which recently won the Food Sovereignty Prize, discuss lessons learned from organizing on the front lines of climate change.

BY HEATHER GIES
Agroecology, Climate, ENVIRONMENT, FARMING, Indigenous Foodways
Posted on: October 19, 2018 Last updated: October 25, 2018Published: Civil Eats

  

Even before Hurricane Maria devastated the island back in September 2017, Puerto Rico already imported 85 percent of its food. Local farming declined decades ago amid U.S.-led industrialization on the island, following a shift away from diversified small-scale farms to plantation agriculture. An ailing economy, austerity, and the fact that 44 percent of Puerto Ricans lived below the poverty line all deepened household food insecurity.

Facing a non-response from the federal government after the hurricane, residents joined forces to support one another and rebuild. And as part of the larger effort to restore Puerto Rico’s decimated farmland, some advocates have spent the last year helping vulnerable farmers become more resilient to future climate-fueled disasters.

Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica de Puerto Rico, a 28-year-old grassroots farmer and activist group, has led the charge. With an estimated 80 percent of the island’s crops wiped out, the group mobilized support brigades to assist food producers and used a grassroots, farmer-to-farmer approach to share knowledge about agroecological farming and food sovereignty.

The brigades organized volunteers to lend a hand to farmers in need, turning fields and gardens into hands-on classrooms and a spaces for social and political dialogue. Against the backdrop of and an uncertain death toll, which the government eventually raised to nearly 3,000, limited communications, and a blackout that lasted for months, they planted fresh crops, cleared fallen trees, opened roads, and rebuilt homes. And their effort is ongoing; after more than a year of slow reconstruction, tens of thousands still lack reliable electricity and adequate housing.            To read further, go to:  https://civileats.com/2018/10/19/agroecology-as-a-tool-of-sovereignty-and-resilience-in-puerto-rico-after-hurricane-maria/