The "Miracles" of the 1960s Green Revolution and the Globalization of Agriculture: Who Did It Truly Benefit?

Presenter

Samina Mian

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Deepika Marya, Honors College, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 3, 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A7, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 1 (A1-A20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

The goal of this thesis is to integrate frameworks from globalization study with food policy and agriculture to analyze how food systems, both in the United States and in the Global South, have greatly shifted since the onset of the Green Revolution in the 1960s. This period reflects the widespread adoption of new agricultural technologies that led to dramatically higher yields of grains for a short period throughout the Global South and forever changed the ways in which food is cultivated and distributed across the world. This research analyzes the overall impact of globalization and the privatization of food on the rural population in India, Pakistan, and Zambia. With agriculture becoming more of a business run by global agrochemical firms, commodity traders, food and beverage processors, and grocery retailers, there is a pressing need to expand systems of food production that align with the goals of farmers and food sovereignty. While the crops generated from the Green Revolution have undoubtedly increased food availability, their widespread introduction in both the Global South and U.S. have shifted our diet towards a handful of foods that rely on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, displaced traditional agricultural practices, and placed control of our food supply in the hands of large agribusinesses. This research indicates the extent to which profit-driven companies and international organizations (e.g. World Bank) have interfered with and changed the landscape of agriculture. Furthermore, it advocates for adopting ecologically-based and localized farming practices to create resilient food systems in light of climate change.

Keywords

Globalization, Privatization, Green Revolution, Agriculture , Global South

Research Area

Globalization and Development

SIMILAR ABSTRACTS (BY KEYWORD)