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  • 2 years ago
Agriculture has developed tremendously. While one farmer in Germany fed 10 people in the 1950s, that number today is 150. Everyone could be fed. But a lot still needs to be done in terms of the environment, climate and animal welfare.
Transcript
00:00 How did agriculture develop?
00:02 Feeding chickens, milking cows, harvesting wheat.
00:06 Without agriculture, about 8 billion or so people on Earth
00:09 would have no livelihood.
00:12 And almost a billion people, 30% of the working population,
00:15 are out of a job.
00:17 That's how many are full-time farmers.
00:19 And they use around a third of the Earth's total land
00:25 area for livestock, farming, and agriculture.
00:28 Efficiency has increased enormously.
00:31 In the early days, thousands of years ago,
00:33 agriculture yielded even less than hunting and gathering.
00:37 This changed mainly due to technical progress,
00:42 better seeds, more efficient fertilizers, pesticides,
00:46 and ever larger and more modern machines.
00:50 This allowed farmers to cultivate more arable land,
00:53 keep more livestock, and specialize their farms.
00:57 In Germany, for example, one farmer
00:59 could feed 10 people in the early 1950s.
01:03 Today, one farmer feeds almost 150 people.
01:07 Wheat yields per hectare are almost three times higher.
01:10 Whereas a hen used to lay 30 eggs a year,
01:13 today's breeds can lay over 300.
01:16 One thing is clear.
01:18 So much is produced that everyone
01:20 could have enough to eat.
01:21 But it is also clear that global agriculture must become
01:25 more environmentally, animal, and climate friendly.
01:29 If you add land consumption and deforestation,
01:32 it is responsible for around 30% of the greenhouse effect.
01:37 And in the end, the climate change we are contributing to
01:40 will also reduce agricultural yields.
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