And yet, faced with these challenges, Cuban farmers and scientists have turned to a variety of traditional, alternative and renewable technologies in the production of food and energy in order to achieve a sustainable economy. Much of the main island is made up of fertile flatlands, where cattle are grazed and sugarcane, coffee and tobacco are grown The south-east of the country is more rugged with several mountain ranges. The southern coast is dominated by mangrove swamps whilst much of the northern coast is bordered by rugged beaches. Cuba has a tropical climate moderated by north-easterly trade winds. The east coast is subject to hurricanes from August to October and in general is affected by at least one hurricane every year.
Droughts are common and the region is also prone to earthquakes.
The transition from conventional intensive agriculture began as a result of the economic crisis in 1990, although Cuban researchers had initiated the alternative agriculture movement in the early 1980s. At that time, despite promising results, the technologies remained largely unused. However, this ecologically sustainable approach to agriculture was quickly incorporated into government policy during the early 1990s and tested techniques integrated into agricultural practice. As a result of severe shortages in petroleum, pesticides and fertilizers, Cuba was forced to practice organic agriculture on a nation-wide scale. As a result, previously highly mechanized farming methods and monocultures of foreign crop species have been replaced with animal traction, crop and pasture rotation, soil conservation, organic soil inputs, biopesticides and biofertilizers.