Explain how recent changes in agriculture influence people worldwide.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Agricultural concerns that connect the people and economies of the world also abound. Food prices are skyrocketing in poor countries. Business decisions by the handful of companies that dominate the global agricultural markets have driven up the cost of seeds to farmers. In the past, farmers could hold back some of their crop production as seed for the following year. However, many new genetically engineered seeds germinate only once and their offspring are sterile, thereby netting the seed companies more sales. Thus, farmers are forced to spend a larger share of their income to buy seeds annually just to stay in business. As seeds cost more, farmers are able to plant less. Farmers in poor countries also are more affected by droughts and floods—which may be more likely as climate change occurs—than are their counterparts in wealthier societies.
Some of these agricultural issues have global consequences. For example, genetically engineered seeds, meant to be more robust, reduce varieties across and within crops, which increases the risk from catastrophic blights or infestations: when one variety gets infected, the entire harvest is often threatened because of the increasingly mono-varietal nature of farming. Also, more land globally is being diverted to the cultivation of crops for ethanol-based energy production rather than for food production. All of these factors result in less food produced in places where it is typically needed most and put more strain on global food stocks.