The lesson began with a highly thought-provoking quote: "Educate women to save the world - they'll educate the whole family". I'm inclined to believe that this is true - social projects focusing with women tend to have been highly effective. Women have traditionally taken on the role of caregiver, and will probably pass on the benefits of their education to their children, perhaps more so then men. It seems like a valuable element to incorporate into the strategy of alleviating poverty and possibly improving the quality of agriculture.
Within this broad topic of biobusiness and agriculture, I was quite fascinated by the area of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It's been a controversial area for some years, ever since the advent of the Flavr Savr Tomato. I think the problem is lack of understanding of the effects of GM food - it just hasn't been around long enough for us to determine whether it has any long-term negative impact on health. Perhaps chanelling more research funding into this area would help, but it may be really difficult to design a study that can conclusively determine its effects. In the absence of strong evidence indicating that GM food is harmful, we won't be getting rid of it anytime soon, unless there's strong political will or pressure in this direction of course.
The food vs energy debate has also risen to prominence in recent years. I'm inclined to think that the food side will triumph, though countries will continue to tap crops like corn and sugar cane for fuel. This in light of the looming food crisis the world is facing, and the fact that there are many other renewable energy sources. I also think that it's bad to encourage poor farmers in developing countries (e.g. India, as shown in the video) to grow crops for fuel, as this makes them vulnerable to market conditions and prevents them from being self-sustaining.
Nevertheless, I agree that technology is going to have a huge impact on agriculture, with the advent of a new generation of farmists. These people are equipped with university degrees in agriculture, and having grown up on farms, will be able to apply their knowledge in creative ways to increase yields and improve efficiency.
