In 1968, when I was in high school, a book titled The Population Bomb was published. The author, Paul Erlich, began the book with this statement: "The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate" I knew very little about farming then, but was frightened by the vision and wondered if anyone could prevent this future state.

Fortunately, due in large part to the individual dynamism and genius of a man named Norman Borlaug, this dire prediction did not come true. Borlaug, along with Yuan Longping and other researchers, identified new seed varieties for rice, wheat and maize, launching the "Green Revolution" in the 1960s that helped farmers double and triple their yields around the world.

But the benefits of the Green Revolution didn't reach every region of the world; yields in Africa are still dismally low and farmers continue to face tough conditions to grow their crops. Climate change has contributed to an increase in droughts and floods in tropical regions, which is a huge challenge for smallholder farmers living there.