# Cuba metabolism reconfiguration after the collapse of the Soviet Union

Jérémie Klein, Albert Bouffange, Jean-Yves Courtonne, Guillaume Mandil

► To cite this version:

Jérémie Klein, Albert Bouffange, Jean-Yves Courtonne, Guillaume Mandil. Cuba metabolism reconfiguration after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 10th International Degrowth Conference & 15th International Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics, Jun 2024, Pontevedra, Spain. hal-04626895

HAL Id: hal-04626895

https://inria.hal.science/hal-04626895

Submitted on 27 Jun 2024

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<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

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# Cuba metabolism reconfiguration after the collapse of the Soviet Union

Jérémie Klein, Albert Bouffange, Jean-Yves Courtonne, Guillaume Mandil

► To cite this version:

Jérémie Klein, Albert Bouffange, Jean-Yves Courtonne, Guillaume Mandil. Cuba metabolism reconfiguration after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 10th International Degrowth Conference & 15th International Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics, Jun 2024, Pontevedra, Spain. pp.1-1. [hal-04626895](https://hal-04626895v1)

HAL Id: hal-04626895

https://inria.hal.science/hal-04626895v1

Submitted on 27 Jun 2024

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entific research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
# Cuba metabolism reconfiguration after the collapse of the Soviet Union

**Klein, Jérémie; Bouffange, Albert; Courtonne, Jean-Yves; Mandil, Guillaume**

It is rare for a country's economy to suffer a sharp contraction in its supplies of raw materials essential to its metabolic functioning. One of the rare cases in history is Cuba in the 1990s. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, which was Cuba's main trading partner, the island saw its imports of several raw materials plummet. Major changes were made to cope with this shock: this period is known as the "special period". To study the metabolism of the territory during this period, data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation, the International Energy Agency, scientific and grey literature were collected. Then, using the data reconciliation tools of the Sustainability transition, environment, economy and local policy (STEEP) research team, analyses of material and energy flows enabled us to take a closer look at the Cuban metabolism before and after the collapse of the USSR. An approach by the economic actors (formal and informal) have made it possible to highlight the question of the organisation mode for the agricultural system, highlighting the role of institutions and their various links in the agricultural system (detailed in a separate submission for this conference : Bouffange et al.). Overall, the island of Cuba saw its oil supply fall by more than 60% between 1989 and 1993, and its fertilizer supply by more than 70%. Differences by economic sector were highlighted, with some sectors particularly affected materially, such as transport. Via a number of social indicators (Gini index, life expectancy, quality of education, access to electricity, etc) the state of satisfaction of human needs was studied. We can see that the quality of energy, education and healthcare services has been only slightly affected by the severe energy constraints. Our interpretation is political choices have been made to prioritize the satisfaction of certain human needs (health, education, food). However, by comparing energy intensity at this period with low-consumption scenarios, we show some limits to how the Cuban case can serve as a basis for thinking about an ecologically sustainable society. It seems to be still very dependent on fossil fuels. This historical case study allows us to imagine what could happen to our economies in the event of an energy contraction, the extent to which our human needs can or cannot continue to be met, and the questions of social organisation that such an event would entail.
# Cuba metabolism reconfiguration after the collapse of the Soviet Union

**Klein, Jérémie; Bouffange, Albert; Courtonne, Jean-Yves; Mandil, Guillaume**

It is rare for a country's economy to suffer a sharp contraction in its supplies of raw materials essential to its metabolic functioning. One of the rare cases in history is Cuba in the 1990s. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, which was Cuba's main trading partner, the island saw its imports of several raw materials plummet. Major changes were made to cope with this shock: this period is known as the “special period”. To study the metabolism of the territory during this period, data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation, the International Energy Agency, scientific and grey literature were collected. Then, using the data reconciliation tools of the Sustainability transition, environment, economy and local policy (STEEP) research team, analyses of material and energy flows enabled us to take a closer look at the Cuban metabolism before and after the collapse of the USSR. An approach by the economic actors (formal and informal) have made it possible to highlight the question of the organisation mode for the agricultural system, highlighting the role of institutions and their various links in the agricultural system (detailed in a separate submission for this conference : Bouffange et al.). Overall, the island of Cuba saw its oil supply fall by more than 60% between 1989 and 1993, and its fertilizer supply by more than 70%. Differences by economic sector were highlighted, with some sectors particularly affected materially, such as transport. Via a number of social indicators (Gini index, life expectancy, quality of education, access to electricity, etc) the state of satisfaction of human needs was studied. We can see that the quality of energy, education and healthcare services has been only slightly affected by the severe energy constraints. Our interpretation is political choices have been made to prioritize the satisfaction of certain human needs (health, education, food). However, by comparing energy intensity at this period with low-consumption scenarios, we show some limits to how the Cuban case can serve as a basis for thinking about an ecologically sustainable society. It seems to be still very dependent on fossil fuels. This historical case study allows us to imagine what could happen to our economies in the event of an energy contraction, the extent to which our human needs can or cannot continue to be met, and the questions of social organisation that such an event would entail.