Six Grassroots Activists Win $150,000 Goldman Prize

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things to protect the environment

23 April 2010

Humberto Rios Labrada meets with local farmers at seed diversity fairs across Cuba.

Every April, during the week-long observances surrounding Earth Day, grassroots environmental activists from six regions of the world are honored with the Goldman Environmental Prize.

The privately-funded, $150,000 awards, based in the United States, recognize individuals who've shown courage and initiative in responding to environmental problems.

Farmer-led biodiversity projects

Agronomist Humberto Rios Labrada, with the Cuban National Institute of Agriculture, has played a major role in changing agrarian practices in Cuba.

Like farming systems in many countries during the last half of the 20th century, Cuban agriculture had adopted a chemical-intensive, highly mechanized, mono-culture approach - big, single-crop fields. As scientists eventually learned, this posed a threat to the island nation's biodiversity and over time, reduced crop yields - putting Cuba's food security at risk, as well.

Goldman laureate Rios says his plan was to address these urgent problems one farmer at a time. "I truly believe that if farmers are the ones making innovative decisions, Cuba can overcome its food challenges."

In the late 1990s, Rios and a team of young scientists created agro-diversity learning centers for farmers. They also helped establish seed farms across Cuba to promote cultivation of a wider variety of food crops. Food production increased dramatically.