Congratulations, Humberto!

Humberto Rios Labrada, director of USC Canada’s program in Cuba, has been awarded the prestigious international Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the “Green Nobel.” Dr. Rios will be honoured at an awards ceremony in Washington on April 21, 2010.

Since 2007, with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), USC Canada has been working with Dr. Rios and the National Institute for Agricultural Sciences on an innovative farmer-scientist research program that puts farmers in the driver’s seat. Dr. Rios found a kindred spirit in USC, whose award-winning Seeds of Survival program is based on an ecological approach to agriculture, knowledge sharing, and farmer-scientist exchanges.

As with many industrialized nations since the 1950s, Cuba’s agricultural model embraced new technologies that became increasingly expensive and environmentally harmful. At one time Cuba was the highest per-capita consumer of agrochemicals in Latin America! With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Cubans were compelled to explore a different approach to food production.

Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize

Dr. Rios, a researcher who had earned a PhD in Agricultural Sciences, began to notice Cuban farmers returning to the organic agricultural practices of an earlier generation. They included crop rotation and experimentation with indigenous seed varieties. He realized these small farmers across Cuba were the key to revitalizing the island’s agriculture, and set about helping them organize, share knowledge about crop biodiversity, and initiate seed fairs in communities across the island.

Today, Cuba is making progress toward food sovereignty.

Since partnership with USC Canada began, three years ago, the Cuban program has increased the availability of indigenous crop varieties and extended local seed saving practices.

USC Canada’s Executive Director, Susan Walsh, says, “USC takes great delight in the honour this award brings to Humberto, his tireless dedication, and to the important work of small farmers in communities across Cuba.”