Through it all, he remained a deeply humble and practical man who was as productive after winning the Peace Prize as he was before. His longstanding commitment was to the farmers of the world, and that no child should go to bed hungry. The emergence in Uganda in of a devastating new strain of wheat stem rust imperiled food security in East Africa and around the world. Borlaug knew that such a virulent strain put smallholder wheat farmers in Africa at immediate risk. Along with Ronnie Coffman of Cornell University , Borlaug rallied world leaders in the early s to address the decades of complacency that had resulted in too few wheat scientists working in inadequate breeding and testing facilities, and scarce resources to train the next generation of hunger fighters needed to address this and other threats to wheat.
The green revolution offered the prospect that postwar hunger could be averted, people could move out of poverty and that rural societies — just like new wheat varieties — could grow strong and thrive on giant fields of high-yielding crops.
As we know, that never happened — and by the s doubts were being aired. According to the critics, the green revolution varieties undoubtedly had averted food shortages temporarily, but, said his obituarist Christopher Reed, they had not averted poverty.
In fact, they might have added to it. The long-term cost of depending on Borlaug's new varieties, said eminent critics such as ecologist Vandana Shiva in India, was reduced soil fertility, reduced genetic diversity, soil erosion and increased vulnerability to pests. Not only did Borlaug's 'high-yielding' seeds demand expensive fertilisers, they also needed more water.
Both were in short supply, and the revolution in plant breeding was said to have led to rural impoverishment, increased debt, social inequality and the displacement of vast numbers of peasant farmers," he wrote. The political journalist Alexander Cockburn was even less complimentary : "Aside from Kissinger, probably the biggest killer of all to have got the peace prize was Norman Borlaug, whose 'green revolution' wheat strains led to the death of peasants by the million.
The jury on Borlaug is still out. The US government and the mighty farm establishment, which have been milking Borlaug's anniversary last week, have grown rich on the green revolution. They argue that his legacy is GM crops, the triumph of US technology, and the promise of even greater yields.
Washington, D. Government Printing Office, Hardin, Clifford M. Englewood Cliffs, N. New York, Foreign Policy Association, New York, Pantheon Books, Foreign Economic Development Service, U. Department of Agriculture, cooperating with the U. Agency for International Development PA George Harrar, President of the Rockefeller Foundation. Wharton, Clifton R. Therefore, he played a central role in establishing the World Food Prize in In true Norman Borlaug fashion the World Food Prize Foundation also developed outstanding educational programs to engage young people in world food issues.
Borlaug always acknowledged his many "comrades in arms" who contributed their talents to the vast undertaking of fighting hunger and rural poverty.
In his Nobel Lecture, he stated:. I am but one member of a vast team made up of many organizations, officials, thousands of scientists, and millions of farmers - mostly small and humble - who for many years have been fighting a quiet, oftentimes losing war on the food production front.
He also clearly understood that, without curbs on human reproduction, gains in agriculture would not solve every ill, but rather buy only a few decades of time. In the same address he stated:. For a decent and humane life we must also provide an opportunity for good education, remunerative employment, comfortable housing, good clothing, and effective and compassionate medical care. Unless we can do this, man may degenerate sooner from environmental diseases than from hunger.
Undoubtedly, some such device exists in man, presumably Homo sapiens, but so far it has not asserted itself to bring into balance population growth and the carrying capacity of the environment on a worldwide scale. It would be disastrous for the species to continue to increase our human numbers madly until such innate devices take over. It is a test of the validity of sapiens as a species epithet. Norman Borlaug truly became a citizen of the world. He was a tireless advocate for the impoverished and disadvantaged.
He worked with world leaders to eliminate hunger and poverty and to promote education. When in a new family of wheat stem rust races arose in Uganda Ug99 , Borlaug used his influence to bring attention to this threat to world food production. The international complacency that had followed the success of the Green Revolution began to lift, leading to the formation of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative in Nevertheless, even with a very hectic travel schedule, he made a point of being present for major family events.
His athleticism and enthusiasm for sports remained a constant in his life. During visits to the University of Minnesota, Borlaug always made a point of visiting his good friend J. Robinson — the UMN wrestling coach! Beyond all of his incredible accomplishments, Norman Borlaug, the man who saved millions from starvation, was also one of the most caring and humble of human beings. In the years preceding his death, Borlaug was often honored for a lifetime of service and for the sacrifice and hardships he endured.
Humbly he accepted awards, like the Congressional Gold Medal below, and used his visibility as the voice for those who have no voice. He was held in the highest esteem. As long as he drew breath, Norman Borlaug never ceased to be concerned for the impoverished and hungry of the world. The Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation normanborlaug.
Borlaug: Founder. Log In Bookstore Join Renew. It looks like your browser does not have JavaScript enabled.
0コメント