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For 30 years Cuba had fully embraced chemical pesticide-and fertiliser--intensive farming methods to meet its domestic food and export needs. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, Cuba, a target of a thirty-year economic embargo by the United States, lost its biggest trading partner and its ability to import food, and the chemicals and machines to grow it using conventional technology.

Sustainable Agriculture explores the ambitious programme Cuba embarked on during the ten years subsequent to the collapse of the Soviet Union, a programme which fed the country's population. By 1999 Cuba's agricultural production had recovered and in some cases reached historic levels. While rural farms and farmers contributed greatly to this success, a key component was the emergence of urban farms and gardens as the principle source of fresh produce in cities.