Making the Green Revolution

Agriculture and Conflict in Colombia

By Timothy W. Lorek | Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press

About the book

In November 2017, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) celebrated its fiftieth anniversary at its headquarters outside Palmira, Colombia. As an important research center of the so-called Green Revolution in agricultural science and technologies, CIAT emphasizes its contributions to sustainability, food security, gender equity, inclusive markets, and resilient, climate-smart agriculture. Yet these terms hardly describe the Cauca Valley where CIAT is physically located, a place that has been transformed into an industrial monoculture of sugarcane where thirteen Colombian corporations oversee the vast majority of this valley’s famously fertile soil. This exemplifies the paradox Timothy W. Lorek describes in Making the Green Revolution: an international research center emphasizing small-scale and sustainable agricultural systems sited conspicuously on a landscape otherwise dominated by a large-scale corporate sugarcane industry.

Utilizing archives in Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the United States, Lorek tracks the paradoxical but intertwined twentieth-century processes that produced both CIAT and sugar in the Cauca Valley. This history reveals how Colombians contributed to the rise of a global Green Revolution and how that international process in turn intersected with a complex and long-running rural conflict in Colombia.

Editions of Making the Green Revolution

Hardcover
ISBN 9781469673813
Paperback
ISBN 9781469673820
EBook
ISBN 9781469673844
EBook
ISBN 9798890860811
EBook
ISBN 9781469673837
PDF
ISBN 9798890860804

Read an Excerpt

In November 2017, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) celebrated its fiftieth anniversary at its headquarters outside Palmira, Colombia. As an important research center of the so-called Green Revolution in agricultural science and technologies, CIAT emphasizes its contributions to sustainability, food security, gender equity, inclusive markets, and resilient, climate-smart agriculture. Yet these terms hardly describe the Cauca Valley where CIAT is physically located, a place that has been transformed into an industrial monoculture of sugarcane where thirteen Colombian corporations oversee the vast majority of this valley’s famously fertile soil. This exemplifies the paradox Timothy W. Lorek describes in Making the Green Revolution: an international research center emphasizing small-scale and sustainable agricultural systems sited conspicuously on a landscape otherwise dominated by a large-scale corporate sugarcane industry.

Utilizing archives in Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the United States, Lorek tracks the paradoxical but intertwined twentieth-century processes that produced both CIAT and sugar in the Cauca Valley. This history reveals how Colombians contributed to the rise of a global Green Revolution and how that international process in turn intersected with a complex and long-running rural conflict in Colombia.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Making the Green Revolution about?

In November 2017, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) celebrated its fiftieth anniversary at its headquarters outside Palmira, Colombia. As an important research center of the so-called Green Revolution in agricultural science and technologies, CIAT emphasizes its contributions to sustainability, food security, gender equity, inclusive markets, and resilient, climate-smart agriculture. Yet these terms hardly describe the Cauca Valley where CIAT is physically located, a place that has been transformed into an industrial monoculture of sugarcane where thirteen Colombian corporations oversee the vast majority of this valley’s famously fertile soil. This exemplifies the paradox Timothy W. Lorek describes in Making the Green Revolution: an international research center emphasizing small-scale and sustainable agricultural systems sited conspicuously on a landscape otherwise dominated by a large-scale corporate sugarcane industry.

Utilizing archives in Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the United States, Lorek tracks the paradoxical but intertwined twentieth-century processes that produced both CIAT and sugar in the Cauca Valley. This history reveals how Colombians contributed to the rise of a global Green Revolution and how that international process in turn intersected with a complex and long-running rural conflict in Colombia.

What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Making the Green Revolution?

Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Industrial processes > Environmental science, engineering and technology

Where can I read a sample of Making the Green Revolution?

You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781469673813

How long is Making the Green Revolution and how many pages does it have?

Making the Green Revolution has 342 page(s)

Is Making the Green Revolution part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?

Yes it is a part of series Flows, Migrations, and Exchanges

Who is/are the Author/s of the book Making the Green Revolution?

Timothy W. Lorek

Who is the Publisher of the book Making the Green Revolution?

The University of North Carolina Press

What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?

Making the Green Revolution is available as hardcover(ISBN 9781469673813) and paperback(ISBN 9781469673820) and ebook(ISBN 9781469673844) and ebook(ISBN 9798890860811) and ebook(ISBN 9781469673837) and pdf(ISBN 9798890860804)

Where can I buy Making the Green Revolution online or support local independent bookshops?

You can buy Making the Green Revolution from below

Where can I buy Making the Green Revolution?