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Page added on November 1, 2016
Venezuelans told to grow own food
Some Venezuelan city dwellers are trying to grow their own produce to offset the country’s severe shortages following socialist President Nicolás Maduro’s calls for “food sovereignty.”
But in a country where families are going hungry as a result of government mismanagement and sky-high inflation, many view the “Great Agro-Venezuela Mission” with skepticism.
“Agriculture shouldn’t be a solution” to the country’s shortages, said former landowner Iraima Pacheco de Leandro, 54, a well-to-do government opponent who lives in Caracas.
Critics have taken to social media to accuse the government of downplaying the country’s critical situation, and ridicule Maduro for trying to solve Venezuela’s dire food crisis through getting urbanites to farm small plots of land.
“Urban Farming in Venezuela. Thanks to @Nicolas Maduro” read one tweet accompanied by a photograph of a man and a dog sifting through trash, a common sight in Caracas as food supplies dwindle and black market prices soar.
#ThisIsVenezuela Urban farming in #Venezuela. Thanks to @NicolasMaduro. Image via @OvarioV pic.twitter.com/d2n6quZOt9
— Michael Welling (@WellingMichael) July 16, 2016
“BBC Venezuela report has Chavistas explaining how they’re going to feed people, grow medicine, through urban farming. No, really,” mocked another Twitter user.
When the project was presented in February, the newly created Ministry of Urban Agriculture announced that 12,000 square kilometers — about 4,600 square miles — would be planted in the first 100 days. The government promised to invest $300,000 in seeds, equipment and educational projects, and help with logistics.
The government urged citizens to plant in every available space — private terraces, communal areas, jails and schools among other sites — but did not itself provide the land.
Eight months into the project, only 21 square kilometers (about 8 square miles) of land have been cultivated, according to the ministry.
“How are you going to tell someone with no space for a plot to grow [their own food]?” asked De Leandro, whose family-owned farm was expropriated, like many other businesses, under former president Hugo Chávez’s nationalization program.
Some Venezuelans try to look on the bright side of the experiment: Producing their own food can reduce the time spent on the streets of Caracas, where crime is skyrocketing. For De Leandro, who was once kidnapped for ransom, this is a comforting thought. She grows a stunning array of vegetables on one of her terraces.
But not all Caraquenians have enough land to cultivate produce, and water is also in short supply due to a drought.
Barbara D’Ambruoso, 24, whose vegetable plot overlooks the sprawling city, has learned to carefully measure her water usage. “They cut our water supply from Saturday afternoon until Wednesday,” she said, alluding to government measures in response to the nationwide shortage.
Below D’Ambruoso’s hilltop home, one can see cramped apartments — part of Chavez’s housing mission, introduced by the late president to provide rent-free accommodation to the poorest families. Hardly an ideal setting for a lush little plot of land.
But limited land is not a restriction, says the Ministry of Urban Agriculture, suggesting that citizens can produce 20 kilos — nearly 45 pounds — of fruits and vegetables with just one meter of land.
In a slum in west Caracas, 69-year-old Chavez supporter Luisana Galvis and 17 other people cultivate vegetables on shared land.
“We’re doing this to combat the economic warfare so that they can’t have us on our knees again,” said Galvis, echoing the government’s argument that the deep recession is the fault of opposition business leaders and the United States.
Economists attribute the shortages to other factors, like price controls and overregulation. In the past, sales of oil — Venezuela’s top export — brought in plenty of dollars that could be used to buy produce abroad. But the price of oil has dropped sharply in the past two years. The decline in Venezuela’s agricultural output has been accelerated by government expropriations of land under its socialist leaders. Much of the country’s fertile agricultural land is underused, experts say.
20 Comments on "Venezuelans told to grow own food"
Lawfish1964 on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 10:10 am
45 pounds of produce from one square meter of land is not going to happen. I have 500 sq. feet of garden, which I grow very intensively in. This year, I used 200 sq. feet to plant potatoes and got a bumper crop of 80 lbs. of spuds. The rest was tomatoes, peppers and beans, which probably amounted to another 50 lbs. of produce.
What’s wrong with food self-sufficiency? Look at what happened in Cuba. When they went down the tubes, everyone started planting in all available plots and before long, they had an abundance of food. At some point, food production will go back to being local, like it or not.
Richard on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 10:28 am
For who can and want to, people in that state should certainly give it a try.
HARM on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 12:38 pm
@Lawfish,
Exactly. Back in WWII the U.S. encouraged urban “Victory Gardens” as part of the overall war strategy of maximizing resources by encouraging self sufficiency. It’s a tough transition to make, but once they do it, they will actually be better positioned for global economic collapse than the U.S.
The right just loves to seize on stories like this as of the supposed “failure of socialism”. Never mind that most “socialist” or hybrid socialist countries like Sweden, Germany, Canada, etc. are still doing just fine thank you. Never mind that Venezuela’s problems have more to do with their overdependence on oil, endemic corruption and the CIA/U.S. gov perpetually undermining them, funding plutocratic “opposition” groups etc. The truth doesn’t fit so neatly into the right-wing “Radian capitalism=good, socialism=bad” fairy tale.
penury on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 1:32 pm
This advice has been given to all of us in the U.S. many times over the past 80 years that I know of. Just because its repeated does not mean its untrue. Still today at all opportunities we encourage everyone to grow your own food. It might help. U,S, media simply likes to mock anyone in other societies who attempt to help themselves. You all need us to make you safe, haven’t you heard?
rockman on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 2:43 pm
“Producing their own food can reduce the time spent on the streets of Caracas, where crime is skyrocketing.”. Of course the bad guys are only interested in stealing money and cars. They are much too nice to raid anyone’s garden patch. They would rather starve then be so dishonorable.
steam_cannon on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 2:45 pm
45 pounds per square meter? (or more accurately 44.09), did someone misplace a decimal point?
Back of the napkin estimate…
“If you went into a supermarket to the bulk produce section, and weighted some carrots on the scale, you would see that a half pound of carrots is a small handful of carrots. Can you visualize this half-pound of carrots in a square piece of ground that is one foot long on each side?”
http://www.gardensofeden.org/04%20Crop%20Yield%20Verification.htm
19,400 lbs. per one acre/
43,560 square feet per one acre
= .445 pounds per square foot
Square feet in a meter 10.7639
10.7639 square feet in a meter * food per square foot 0.445 = 4.7899355 pounds per square foot soundsd possible.
So around 5 pounds in a square meter sounds reasonable.
Lawfish1964 is reporting 130 pounds from a 200 square foot garden with a lot of work.
Using the formula above, 200*0.445=89 pounds, so the estimate above isn’t too far off.
Using lawfish1964 actual results (10.7639/200)*130=6.996535 pounds per square meter.
So that sounds like about 7 pounds per meter, which sounds reasonable.
But 45 pounds per meter? That’s 10 times my guesstimate and 6 times Lawfish1964’s experience. Hmmm. Is there any way they could grow six times more then that? That might work with one meter soil if you put it in many small planters spread out over six meters of leaf space, in a topical climate and lots of careful watering? But that’s pushing it. It would be really interesting if they managed it, but that sounds improbable.
Anyway, that’s nice people are trying to get by. It’s a real bad situation. Too bad their government blames the US so much for their troubles. I don’t think they’re right on that. I think these problems are all on the choices of their government.
steam_cannon on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 2:47 pm
Opps, I wrote: “10.7639 square feet in a meter * food per square foot 0.445 = 4.7899355 pounds per square foot soundsd possible.”
I meant:
10.7639 square feet in a meter * food per square foot 0.445 = 4.7899355 pounds per square meter sounds possible.
Apneaman on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 3:55 pm
Today
#ThisIsVenezuela Urban farming in #Venezuela. Thanks to @NicolasMaduro.
Tomorrow
#ThisIs[insert country here] Urban farming in #[insert country here] . Thanks to @[insert leader here] .
Like dominoes
steam_cannon on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 4:35 pm
“#ThisIs[insert country here] Urban farming in #[insert country here] . Thanks to @[insert leader here] .”
Sounds about right, lol.
Though the cause and reasons aside, I’m a big fan of Victory Gardens so I think this has a silver lining and this situation has many similarities to “The Power of Community – How Cuba Survived Peak Oil”…
Anonymous on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 4:59 pm
Wash po…LoL. amerikans should start growing their own food asap as well. Oh, but wait, you *cant*. In most places in amerikan empires ‘homelands’, its illegal to grow your own food, even on the land you ‘own’, sorry lease, from the banks.
John on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 7:41 pm
ExxonMobil & Rosneft discovered a HUGE new oil Provence in the Kara Sea (Part of Arctic Ocean) in September of 2014.
The US Immediately too action to ensure that The Russian Government would not be able to realize the financial benefit of bringing this new basin online.
-The US immediately imposed sanctions, barring US Corporations from exploring / developing oil in Russia &/or sharing Oil & Gas Technology with Russian Companies. Yes, the US Government forced Exxon to give their huge new discovery (that was though to have more oil than the entire Gulf of Mexico) back to Russia.
-The US immediately too action to bring the price of oil down, making it uneconomic to develop Offshore Arctic Oilfields.
According to ExxonMobil, the World has to find 5 (five) new Saudi Arabia’s worth of oil (in terms of production) in the next 25 years in order to meet demand. The US has decided that they do not want any of the new reserves/production to come from Russia. In order to realize this goal, the US has to force countries like Iraq, Iran, & Venezuela to increase their production rates.
Iraq has/is increasing production because they are controlled by the US.
Iran & Venezuela are being difficult & not cooperating with the US wishes of increasing production & holding prices down. Iran is a special case, but Venezuela’s refusal to cooperate means that it is time for Nicolás Maduro to be overthrown & replaced with a leader who is more apt to do whatever Washington tells him to…
After all Venezuela boast 300 Billion BBLs of Proven Reserves (more than Saudi Arabia), but only produces 2.33 Million BBL/day.
The social unrest, the food/product shortages, the hyper-inflation, & the general misery 30.41 Million Venezuelans is part of Washington’s strategy to overthrow the current Venezuelan Government & ultimately more crude oil to the world (without allowing Russia to exploit their new reserve base).
makati1 on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 7:43 pm
Anon, you shouldn’t ruin American dreams like that. Not to mention that most US urban and suburban soil is mostly clay and a few worn out inches of ‘top soil’ that barely can grow weeds or grass without chemicals. A real garden, tended by an EXPERIENCED gardener, can produce 45# per square meter, but not with the popular row and hoe method and not in a climate with a short growing season. Venezuela is the same distance from the equator that the Ps is and has year round growing capabilities. Divide that 45# by 3 and you get a need for ~15# per square meter for each growing season. Not a problem, IF you are knowledgeable of farming in that climate and soil.
I would suggest the book: “Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew for a start (or a lot of time on the internet).
P.S. You will not have much time for the internet if you decide to truly become self-sufficient in food. You have to do it yourself, not hire someone else to do it for you. You do not learn by watching others. You learn by doing, sweat, blisters and all.
makati1 on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 7:48 pm
John, you are aware that China is already in Venezuela and has arrangements to buy their oil? Russia doesn’t need it.
http://fortune.com/2015/01/08/china-steps-in-to-support-venezuela-ecuador-as-oil-prices-tumble/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-14/china-buying-latin-american-and-russian-oil
http://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuela-oil-loans-go-awry-for-china-1434656360
Etc.
China is already in the door and will remain. The US will not.
John on Tue, 1st Nov 2016 11:25 pm
makati1, you did not understand my post…
nor do you understand the global oil market…
makati1 on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 12:21 am
John, I understand the global oil market probably better than you. I don’t have American blinders or prejudices.
I do understand what you wrote. It was a bit misleading but I see that Russia was just a passing remark. My comment about China already in Venez. is correct. The U$ has little control there anymore, and certainly not over V. oil. In fact, the U$ is losing control everywhere in the world, and about time.
JuanP on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 8:00 am
This is a good idea. Most of us will need to grow at least some of our own food in the future. Venezuelans have great weather, fertile soil, and good rains so they are very lucky.
Caracas has warm weather year round. People down there can grow food every month of the year. I was talking with a recent arrival from Caracas last week at the local community garden. He said he grew a lot of food in his backyard during the last couple of years. Growing more food locally has been happening in Caracas for a while.
You’d better learn how to do it before you need to. It takes a while to learn how to garden productively.
Hubbert on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 10:30 am
Early start to transition towns. Sooner than later.
John on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 1:31 pm
makati1;
You are correct, the US has little influence in Venezuela… Which is why the US is trying to destabilize Venezuela so that new leaders can be installed who will bow to Washington’s wishes… & Washington’s wishes are for them to increase production…
Davy on Wed, 2nd Nov 2016 2:02 pm
Come on John this is more than Washington or China today. The US has been marginalized in Venezuela for years now. Chavez did a get job of deAmericanizing the country. You can go the intellectually lazy route and blame it all on the Americans or you can see there is real complex multidimensional issues at work including Washington meddling. At this point it is in the hands of the people of Venezuela what comes out of this collapsing country not Washington. Besides it looks like Washington has bigger fish in the pan anyway with their own collapsing political drama.
Kenz300 on Thu, 3rd Nov 2016 10:55 am
We all need to become more self sufficient.
Eating a whole foods plant based diet is healthy and sustainable.
Having your own home garden or community garden can provide low cost, pesticide free, healthy food choices.