As Venezuela struggles in its worst economic crisis in decades, the citizens are feeling the strain with a food shortage sweeping the country. To combat the difficulty in acquiring food, President Nicolas Maduro is telling families to consider producing their own food at home.

According to a report from Fox News Latino, President Maduro is urging the country to "develop a new culture of production." Even the Venezuelan leader is taking steps to be prepared at home saying he and his wife currently have 50 chickens in their residence.

Activist and head of the newly established Urban Farming Ministry Emma Ortega stressed the idea of urban farming during a meeting in Caracas saying, "People have to solve the current emergency cultivating in any available space. We just need sun, water and a lot of hearth. Currently our cities are just food consumers and parasites."

The goal is to eventually have urban farming make a significant dent across the entire country.

"If a building has 120 apartments and they all have crops, they could even exchange the different produce they grow," Ortega pointed out.

Siare Foundation field technician Maria Jimenez said that light is a vital part in considering where to plant, saying that a balcony is a good place to start with "self-made wooden tables or in bottles."

"You can grow tomatoes, chives, cayenne, pepper and much more," she added.

To help the people learn more about farming and begin growing their own food, the government is staging workshops and classes. In Caracas, the Bolivar's Crops Center is already up and running in the heart of the capital with 20 different produce sprouting up including lettuce, spinach and even medicinal plants.

Not everyone is in line with the country's newfound focus. Economist and former president of the Chamber of Food Industry Tomas Socias stated that he is not expecting urban farming to be the answer for the widespread food shortage.

"They are caused by macroeconomic imbalances that need to be corrected," he said. "Ninety percent of the products made here need foreign raw material. That requires dollars and for that the government has to stop importing food to activate the national production again."

Last week, the Venezuelan government declared an economic emergency in the face of the country's worsening economy. According to a report from New York Times, the decree will give President Maduro the authorization to bypass the National Assembly on financial and other matters.

The state of emergency came just after the central bank revealed that the country's economy contracted by 4.5 percent in the first three quarters of 2015.