Agricultural development during the last 50 years has been shaped by three persistent forces of change: globalization, technology and people. Globalization is the force that is increasingly shifting the focus from domestic to international opportunities, as world markets become more accessible. Improved technologies represent forces that are improving the ability to produce and deliver what consumers want and people are exerting their influence, either directly as consumers, or indirectly as custodians of the environment in which food and fibre products are produced. These three forces do not act independently of course, but they interact. Moreover, the relative importance of the three forces has varied, both, in the course of time, and in different regions and/or countries. In this chapter, a broad overview is given of global agricultural and rural developments since World War II (WWII), the forces that shaped their dynamics and their interactions with society.
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Van Keulen, H. (2007). Historical Context of Agricultural Development. In: Roetter, R.P., Van Keulen, H., Kuiper, M., Verhagen, J., Van Laar, H.H. (eds) Science for Agriculture and Rural Development in Low-income Countries. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6617-7_2
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