The development of high-yielding crop varieties (HYVs) for developing countries began in a concerted fashion in the late 1950s. In the mid-1960s, scientists developed HYVs of rice and wheat that were subsequently released to farmers in Latin America and Asia. The success of these HYVs was characterized as a ‘Green Revolution’.

Early rice and wheat HYVs were rapidly adopted in tropical and subtropical regions with good irrigation systems or reliable rainfall. Over the following years, the Green Revolution achieved broader and deeper impacts, extending far beyond the original successes of rice and wheat in Latin America and Asia. ‘Productivity growth associated with HYVs had important consequences. Increased food production has contributed to lower food prices globally. Average caloric intake has risen as a result of lower food prices—with corresponding gains in health and life’ (Evenson and Gollin (2003) Science 300, 5620). ‘In order for an African Green Revolution to happen, it is recommended that the agrarian communities and regions reform their land ownership and land tenure from traditional and/or customary laws, in order to enable the ordinary or poor farmers to access and use the land with ease. The farmers need secure and stable tenancy on the land for them to make the necessary investments in modernization of agriculture. Where there are farmers who are tenants on the land, then there should be reform to make the tenancy long term, so that the farmers have operational legitimacy such as land lease or operational leasehold’ (Ngambeki (2003) SMART/AGRI).

A. Gupta (1998) describes the mixed reception afforded to the green revolution: ‘on the one hand, rural people fused environmental and health concerns with a critique of green revolution technology; on the other hand, they welcomed increased wealth and surpluses flowing from the new technology.’ ‘The post-World War II green revolution in synthetic chemicals transformed New Zealand agriculture and was interpreted in a progressive way. Today, the same chemicals are often seen in anything but this light. This shift in representation can be seen in the ways we interpret texts and how such re-readings often highlight and contest dominant ideas of the past’ (Wildblood-Crawford (2006) NZ Geogr. 62, 1). Wilson (2001) TIBG 26 stresses that the need for initiatives and policies that emphasize environmentally friendly agricultural practices has grown as a result of the green revolution. See also G. Robinson (2004).

‘Was there a real alternative to the Green Revolution? Did other development programs contribute to the process of producing higher incomes? Certainly, there were many redistributive programs and investments in health and schooling that contributed to welfare…The Green Revolution did raise the productivity of land and water resources. It also raised the productivity of human resources and did lead to higher wages…In short, for the poorest countries, the Green Revolution, late and uneven as it was, was the “only game in town” ’ (Evenson (2002) Bureau Econ. Studs Occ. Paper 19).