Week 7: Thinking Food Globally International Food Politics

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Week 7 Thinking Food Globally International
Food Politics

• The Green Revolution I
• The shift to Modern agriculture Feeding the
  World?

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Day 1-2 Key Concepts

• The Green Revolution
• High Yield Varieties (HYVs)
• Traditional to Modern Agriculture

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Day 1 Key Questions

• What beliefs underpinned the Green Revolution?
• What were the central components of the Green
  Revolution?
• What were the social, economic, political and
  environmental benefits and problems of the Green
  Revolution?

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The GR Package

• Agricultural package developed from 1940s
• US federal and private funding
• 1. High Yield Varieties (HYV)
• 2. Chemical inputs (pesticides, fertilizers,
  herbicides)
• 3. Mechanization
• 4. Irrigation technologies
• Motivations economic, political, philanthropic
• Develop the Third World,
• Create US markets,
• Fight Communism,
• Feed the Hungry

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Key beliefs of GR
Counter arguments

• Cause of hunger insufficient food production
  and overpopulation

• Cause of hunger unequal access to food and
  means to buy food

• More equal access to resources is required to
  address this problem

• Technological innovation is required to
  address this problem

• Increased production at national scale is key
  to economic development fighting hunger

• Increased equality (national, raced, gendered
  and class based) at global and local scales is key

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High Yield Varieties (HYVs)

• Selectively bred seed varieties
• eg Norin 8 (Borlaug), R58 (Singh)
• Favor genes for
• High yields!!
• Storage and transportation longevity
• Adapted to use with other inputs
• Appearance
• Suited to high tech farming

Norman Borlaug
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2. Chemical Inputs

• Nitrogen fertilizers, Pesticides Herbicides
• Produced by Western corporations
• Monsanto, Dupont, ICI

Farming GR crops in the Punjab, India
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3. Irrigation technologies

• Create 2nd Monsoon to allow for 2 - 3 harvests
• Large dam projects (eg Peru and in Film clip)
• smaller scale irrigation projects

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4. Mechanization

• Wide scale introduction of small tractors
• Mechanize all aspects of agriculture

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• Capital (not labor) intensive
• Increasing range of inputs
• Required use of all inputs combined
• Inputs produced in the West
• 12 varieties of seeds grown on mass
• Seeds could not be saved
• Increase yields
• Decrease food insecurity
• Establish economic political stability

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Implementation

• Mexican pilot project
• 1945 US Government Rockefeller Foundation
• Aims to increase wheat production
• Address food insecurity
• Maintain political economic stability

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Success

• Success in increasing yields
• 1945 imports 50 wheat
• 1956 self-sufficient
• 1964 exported 500,000 tons

1970 Norman Borlaug wins Nobel Peace
Prize Green revolution is expanded to India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines
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Expansion in the Global South

• By 1970s The GR has reshaped agriculture in the
  Global South
• 1990s, HYV make up
• 75 of Asian rice
• 100 rice China Korea
• 50 wheat in Africa
• gt50 wheat in Latin America and Asia
• 70 worlds corn.
• 40 farmers in Global South now use HYV seeds

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Achievements

• 1. Increased Yields!!
• 1978-79 Record grain production --131 million
  tons
• 2 harvests/ year
• Increased production/ unit area initially

• Mexico India ? net exporters of grain

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Other Achievements

• 2. Reduced dependence on manual labor
• 3. Increased caloric intake
• 4. Higher costs but higher potential profits for
  some
• 5. Growing food security worldwide (??)

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Problems?

• Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow
• On reserve at Odegaard
• Big Spuds, Little Spuds
• Complete worksheet

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The shift to modern agriculture
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• 1. Socially
• Exacerbates social inequality
• Middle classes and men benefit over poor and
  women
• Decline in diversity of nutrient calorie source
• 2. Environmentally
• Loss of biodiversity
• Erosion, soil salinity, soil nutrient loss
• Development of pest, disease resistance
• Human poisoning
• Destroyed plant and animal life
• Fossil fuel dependency
• Sustainability Declining yields

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• 3. Politically/Economically
• Land seizure/appropriation
• Cost price squeeze
• National and individual dependence on inputs
  produced by foreign corporations

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Greater Food Security?

• 1970-1990
• Latin America
• 8 rise in food production
• 19 rise in hunger
• South East Asia
• 9 rise in food production
• 9 rise in hunger
• China
• Hungry reduced 406 189 million

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How to reduce global hunger?

• More food?
• "we will have to double the world food
• supply by 2050"
• Borlaug, 2005

or more equal access?
food security can only be achieved by
redistributing purchasing power and resources
towards those who are undernourished the poor
and particularly poor women. The World Bank, 1986
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Day 1 Key Concepts

• The Green Revolution
• High Yield Varieties (HYVs)
• Traditional to Modern Agriculture

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Day 1 Key Questions

• What beliefs underpinned the Green Revolution?
• What were the central components of the Green
  Revolution?
• What were the social, economic, political and
  environmental benefits and problems of the Green
  Revolution?