Farmer Power from: Guns, Germs and Steel by J.

Diamond
Evolution of mankind
Agricultural societies produce more food
and thus more people.

Meat from livestock replaces wild meat,

animals also provide power to pull plows
and fertilizer.

Sedentary Existence Sedentary existence

leads to shorter birth intervals for women
(4 years for hunter-gatherers versus 2
years for agriculturalists), contributing to
higher population densities

Specialists Food was stored allowing

existence of non- food producing
specialists: – kings – bureaucrats –
soldiers – priests – artisans.

Fiber Crops and livestock provide natural

fibers for: – clothes – blankets – nets –
rope

Big Animals Big animals provided

transport by riding: – horse – donkey – yak
– reindeer – camels

Animal Utility Horse, donkey, yak,

reindeer, camels plus the llama also used
to bear packs. Cows and horses were
hitched to wagons Reindeer and dogs
pulled sleds.

Horses were the most potent military

technology of ancient warfare on the
Eurasian continent.

Germs evolved in human societies with

domestic animals: smallpox, measles, flu
is derived from animals.
 A society that can produce more food can also produce more people. Of the plant
and animal matter our planet produces naturally, the vast majority is inedible, poisonous,
or too inefficient for humans to bother eating. When people control what the land
produces, they can choose to raise the plants and animals that are the best available
sources of food. Some farm animals produce fertilizer, do farm work, and provide fuel for
fires in addition to providing meat and milk. Consequently, herding and farming societies
can usually feed 10 to 100 times the number of people hunter-gatherer societies can feed.
In addition to these advantages, farming replaces a nomadic lifestyle with a
sedentary one. This allows farming cultures to bear and raise more children and store
and use food surpluses. Farming societies are in a better position to support full-time
leaders, shamans, artisans, and scribes. After human societies domesticated large
mammals, they quickly developed the ability to transport people and trade goods over
longer distances. In Eurasia, horses became deadly tools of warfare by 4000 B.C. Later,
when people invented stirrups and saddles, they became even more effective.
In Eurasian farming societies, domesticated mammals lived in close proximity to
humans and gave rise to most of the infectious diseases that devastated the populations
visited by Europeans in the 1500s and later. Smallpox, measles, and flu all evolved from
similar diseases in farm animals. The people who domesticated the animals quickly
evolved at least partial resistance to these diseases. However, the same diseases
wreaked havoc every time they were introduced to populations that had not previously
been exposed to them.
The most significant advantage for the advancement of any culture is food
production and storage. This method of developing a society or culture began 11,000
years ago, while the hunter-gatherer groups have been slowly phased out like flip phones.
Because modern culture is so entrenched in this food production lifestyle, it might be
difficult to see the numerous and tremendous advantages this provided for advancing
cultures. By examining these advantages though, it's quite easy to see how the first
cultures to adopt sedentary, food production cultures, became the most advanced and
prosperous. Diamond points to this notion by stating: “One acre can feed many more
herders and farmers typically, 10 to 100 times more than hunter-gatherers. That strength
of brute numbers was the first of many military advantages that food-producing tribes
gained over hunter-gatherer tribes.”
While there were hunter-gatherer cultures that could grow some crops, those
crops were limited. Crops require good soil, fertilizer, and tending. Hunter-gatherer
cultures were busy with, well, gathering food and hunting game. Many of these cultures
were nomadic, moving to places where there was food to be hunted and gathered. This
non-sedentary lifestyle kept populations low. Gathering and hunting food is also tedious,
time consuming, and doesn't yield the same successes as farming. Because these groups
were moving frequently, the amount they could possess was also limited. Infants had to
be carried, so population growth among hunter-gatherers was slow.
 People of many hunter gatherer societies move frequently in search of wild foods,
but farmers must remain near their fields and orchards. The resulting fixed abode
contributes to denser human populations by permitting a shortened birth interval.
A few hunter-gatherer societies have developed sedentary lifestyles and specialist
workers. Only agricultural societies have ever achieved the population density and
number of specialists necessary to develop widespread and politically centralized
cultures. However, only food-producing societies have achieved significant technological
advancements. A culture’s ability to advance is ultimately dependent on food production
and on the availability of domesticable plants and animals.
Farming is very much importance in the evolution of man because since then,
agriculture provides raw materials that are greatly significant for the needs of the
community. As stated, that a community that can produce more food can also produce
more people. That means, more people more labor, more development and more
opportunities of evolution and growth. In this statement, we can say that a community that
can produce more food also have greater power than those communities who can barely
produce their food because they have greater man power than other communities.
Farming isn’t only about just planting and farming but also domesticating animals and
plants. Domestication is the process of adapting wild plants and animals for human use.
Domestic species are raised for food, work, clothing, medicine, and many other uses.
Domesticated plants and animals must be raised and cared for by humans. In this method
of living, plants have not only been domesticated for food. But also for other uses that can
provide use for the community. Cotton plants were domesticated for fiber, which is used
in cloth. Some flowers, such as tulips, were domesticated for ornamental or decorative
reasons. About the same time, they domesticated plants, people also began to tame
animals not only for meat, milk and hides. Animals are also of many other uses aside
from serving as main source of food. Hides, or the skins of animals were used for clothing
storage and to build tents for shelters. Some animals domesticated for one purpose no
longer serve that purpose. Some dogs were domesticated to assist people in hunting, for
instance. There are hundreds of domestic dog species today. Many of them are still
excellent hunters, but most are pets. Throughout history, people have bred domesticated
animals to promote certain traits. Domestic animals are chosen for their ability to breed in
captivity and for their calm temperament. Their ability to resist disease and survive in
difficult climates is also valuable.
Domesticating plants and animals marked a major turning point for humans. It is
also the beginning of an agricultural way of life and more permanent civilizations. Humans
no longer need to stroll and walk to hunt animals and gather plants for their supplies and
needs. Agriculture allowed people to provide more food and stability, predictable food
production led to increased population.