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1. Explain the term Green Revolution and describe both its intended and unintended outcomes. (Give at least two intended outcomes and two unintended outcomes.)

/Explanation

The term "Green Revolution" otherwise referred to as the Agricultural revolution was an era of a global massive agricultural boom during the 1950s and 1960s. The boom was triggered mainly by the introduction of innovative agricultural technologies in farming. Agricultural production within this period was at its peak, technologies like high-yielding or hybrid seeds were planted; mechanized irrigation and application of fertilizer and pesticides were also adopted; technology-driven food production, processing and storage facilities, and infrastructures were also developed to aid and enhance global agricultural productivity. The green revolution era was of immense benefit to developing nations, especially in Africa, and other Third World nations.

Some of the intended outcomes of the Green Revolution include:

1. Food Security: Green Revolution aided the attainment of average global food security. Food was more readily available and accessible. The initiative was able to prevent massive death and diseases which could have resulted from starvation and malnutrition.

2. Environmental Impact: The employment of safe technological innovation in agricultural production helped to reduce greenhouse gases emission, and thus curb the effect of climate change and global warming.

Some of the unintended outcomes include:

1. Introduction of new diseases and increase in mortality rate: The application of highly concentrated fertilizers to increase agricultural production and the use of high acidic pesticides to control pests had a negative effect on human health, in that humans end up consuming these chemicals which are absorbed by the plants, and this resulted in the growth of cancer disease in humans, and consequently, increase in mortality rate. The Punjab case in India is a classical example of the negative effect of the green revolution.

2. Population Growth: One other unintended outcome of the green revolution was that it encouraged population growth with the belief that there will be enough food to feed the growing world population. This was the biggest concern of Malthusian Theory, which posits that increase food production encourages increase population and that if the population growth is not controlled it will get to a point where the quantity of food produced won't be enough to meet the dietary needs of the world population, and consequently, the world will be plunged in famine.