Feeding the world

1
The Green Revolution

• Feeding the world

By Carli Kogler
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What is it?

• A program set forth between the 1940s and 1960s
  to significantly increase and transform
  Agricultural production in order to keep up with
  the worldwide population growth and land
  expansion.
• It was heavily funded by the Hailey Ashton
  Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and other major
  agencies of the time.
• These foundations all had similar goals of
  reducing poverty on a global scale, as well as
  interests in the further expansion of
  humanitarian efforts.

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• Name was officially given in 1968 during a speech
  by William Gaud, a former director of the United
  States Agency for International
  Development.(USAID)
• "These and other developments in the field of
  agriculture contain the makings of a new
  revolution. It is not a violent Red Revolution
  like that of the Soviets, nor is it a White
  Revolution like that of the Shah of Iran. I call
  it the Green Revolution."
• An answer/aid to the global crisis of food
  shortages and traditional Agricultural
  shortcomings that was hindering and causing
  epidemic in developing nations.

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How was it implemented?

• Funding allowed a whole plethora of scientific
  data, development, techniques and programs to be
  set up and followed through for agriculture
  advancement.
• First tried out in Mexico and was viewed highly
  successful. This paved the way for India and
  other countries that saw similar results. The
  techniques and ideas of the Green Revolution are
  still prevailing today.
• Using similar technologies already used in the
  developed nations that had not yet had the chance
  to be tried out in other places. Such as
• Irrigation projects. (much like the ones we use
  in Alberta)
• Chemical Pesticides.
• Synthetic Nitrogen based fertilizers.

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• New, genetically engineered crops designed to
  have a maximum output in the sustenance they
  produced. The crops initially used were the
  cereal field crops of Maize, Wheat, and Rice.
•  
• These crops were cross bred, and scientifically
  altered with other species similar to them to
  create a new strain of plants referred to as
  HYVs (High yielding Varieties). They were also
  created for harsher climates, terrains and areas
  that had not been previously successful in
  maintaining and sustaining crops.

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Mexico A success story

• Revolution began in 1941 with much collaboration
  between the Mexican government and the
  organizations sent to implement.
• Developing rural areas were invested heavily upon
  by the government.
• The new strains of crops took off remarkably,
  aiding Mexico in becoming sufficient in wheat
  production by 1951 and to begin exporting its
  surplus soon afterwards.
• With food source stable, the population of Mexico
  and economy boomed.
• An amazing turn around for 8 years of investing
  this idea into the country.

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So all countries following this regime should in
theory benefit like Mexico did, right?

• While most countries using practises taken from
  the Green Revolution are in fact noticeably
  improving their standards of living, many
  barriers can spring up and cause problems in
  numerous ways. Take Africa for example. Its
  still a very hard hit area of the world
  concerning poverty and famine issues, and there
  are many reasons for this, from that of
  participation on behalf of the African Government
  to problems with creating the internal structure
  and organization. Thats not to say that Africa
  isnt a lost cause in the least, it just means
  that more time and effort will have to be
  allocated to meet that areas specific and unique
  needs.
• Progress is being made however through as more
  awareness is being spread and understood.

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• On September 12, 2006 the Gates Foundation began
  their partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation
  to bring the Green Revolution to Africa. Pledging
  150 million to the cause which has been
  dispersed the following ways
• -43 million to develop 100 new seed varieties
  within 5 years
• -20 million to educate and train new genetic
  scientists
• -24 million to make sure that the new seed
  varieties reach small isolated farmers through
  public and private channels
• -37 million to develop a network of agro-dealers
  to distribute the necessary chemicals to
  facilitate crop growth and knowledge

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Issues, criticisms and discontent

• Theres an amazingly long list of gripes made
  about this Agriculture Movement
• Pesticide management and how it will affect the
  long term health of the planet and its
  inhabitants. The same goes for the genetically
  engineered crops. Is it safe? What are the long
  term effects to the planet and its inhabitants?
• Loss of biodiversity. (The new crops replacing
  plant life native to that area.)
• Genetic pollution (unwanted gene flow into wild
  populations.)
• Converting too much land mass, thus losing
  wildlife habitats and nature.
• Allowing the human population to grow to severely
  unmanageable proportions thus impacting and
  damaging the earth remarkably.
• New diseases and speeding up others i.e.
  GENETICALLY MODIFYED FOODS AND CHEMICALS CANCER
  FOR EVERYONE.

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• Effort in producing materials etc contributing to
  Global Warming.
• Hilarious Apocalypse theories such as the
  following taken from exitmundi.com
•  
• It will be some end. Suddenly, there will be
  grain everywhere. Grain in the countryside. Grain
  on the beaches. Grain shooting up along every
  road. In your backyard grain. Popping up from
  the cracks in sidewalks more grain. Everywhere
  you look and everywhere you go grain, grain,
  grain. Now if that isnt a green revolution, what
  is?
•  
• Of course, therell be plenty to eat. But theres
  a drawback bread will also be the only thing
  around. The grain will overrun all other crops.
  Agriculture will be disrupted. Forests and
  grasslands will be demolished. Slowly, the entire
  food chain breaks down, as the face of the planet
  turns into an endless field of waving grain.
• ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

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Thats how technology works, folks.

• Truthfully all this technology in terms of human
  technical evolution is still relatively new and
  has many kinks to be worked out. Mistakes of the
  past can only lead to progression of the future,
  and while there are the claims that we are all
  messing with what was naturally given to us and
  introducing a wide variety of new problems to
  face, like cancer causing agents, resistant
  strains of EVERYTHING, and so on, the fact of the
  matter is that what was gathered and made
  possible with the Green Revolution has saved and
  improved such a vast margin of global human life.
  So in terms of the goals wanting to be derived,
  this was a very successful operation as well as
  building block of 20th century Agriculture that
  will propel far into the 21st.
• If there was a way that we could give people
  organic, pesticide free , easy to grow food, it
  would have been done a long time ago, and the
  world would probably be some sort of magical
  utopia by now, but thats not a realistic way of
  thinking. Not on a scale like this.
• -END