Chapter 20. Chapter 20: Feeding the World - A Gene Revolution

What was the Green Revolution and what were its advantages and disadvantages?

Why You Should Care

In the mid-twentieth century, the Green Revolution was the name given to a period of rapid innovation in agricultural methods that allowed both developed and developing countries in Asia to drastically increase crop yields and avert the large-scale famines that seemed imminent in countries like India. It now seems that the Green Revolution was not a permanent solution for several reasons: Avoiding famine allowed populations to continue to grow and the demand for food to increase, such that the world is running out of arable (farmable) land; as standards of living rise in China, so does its citizens' demand for more meat in their diets, and meat requires more resources than vegetables. Also, most African countries were overlooked during the spread of the Green Revolution, and they are struggling to find more productive agricultural methods that their citizens can afford to employ. Lastly, the burgeoning surpluses of commodity crops produced in developed countries are not reaching people who need them. Even if they do reach people in need, crop exports do nothing to help them attain self-sufficiency and lasting food security and sovereignty, all of which help developing countries maintain a stable social order and quality of life for their people.