Beginning with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, Cuba entered a period of extreme shortages that came to be known as “The Special Period.” With imports such as food, fuel, pesticides, and fertilizers disappearing almost overnight, Cubans began to grow their own produce wherever they could–balconies, empty lots, roof-tops. Initially these were grassroots initiatives born of necessity, but over the next decade they would become a central tenet of State planning and a pillar for the island’s economy.
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