Reflection Paper on Food Production and Society Growth

Reflection Paper on Food Production and Society Growth

The development of civilization took place in different parts of the world, at different times as well as different paces. Some of the earliest civilizations, such as those found in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley. The spread of these civilizations to other parts of the world happened differently. As a result, different parts of the world were more developed and aware of the world than others. As a result, the civilized societies utilized theirs knew skills and knowledge over the less civilized societies to expand and strengthen their territories. Due to civilization, these societies were more organized and could strategize on different activities.

Additionally, the civilized communities were more aware of the changes in the world due to the ability to read and write. Due to the spread of information among the civilized communities, conquering the non-civilized communities was a feasible way to expand territories and strengthen specific communities. Such events led to numerous cultural encounters, which resulted in both positive and negative effects. Consequently, civilized communities specialized in different activities to spur innovation and transformation. The spread of food production, the spread of writing, and the Bantu expansion are some of the major cultural encounters that led to innovation and transformation.

The spread of food production

The knowledge regarding the production and storage of food was critically essential for innovation during the early civilizations. First, this created adequate food that could sustain large communities for longer periods than before. As a result, that provided extra time for the people to concentrate on other activities such as making farming tools to expand farming as opposed to hunting and gathering, which was unreliable and time-consuming. Through such initiatives, the communities also discovered how to better their weapons, such as arrows better. With a more reliable source of food produced on a large scale, communities expanded, resulting in the need for better social organization and leadership. Due to this, the elderly members of different communities spent most of their time constructing social and political structures which united the people together. Additionally, united communities meant that they were easy to control and communicate essential issues regarding the way forward for communities. Examples of labor specialization due to adequate food production included artisans, leaders, soldiers, priests, scribes, and many others.

Innovation was a necessity in growing communities. The large populations needed support from the different areas of specialization. As a result, it created complex economies and the demand for more goods in the areas of specialization. Hence, the increase in demand for specialized goods and services prompted the people to innovate faster ways that could facilitate the timely production of what was required. On the same note, the people also trained other people or communities that specialized in different sectors. Due to the increasing demand for various items such as weapons and farming tools, it resulted in barter trade. People began exchanging different items for what they did not have. On another note, the spread of food production was essential in building stronger immunity that allowed people to fight diseases hence faster growth of population in communities. Due to the discovery of the importance of food and natural herbs to body immunity, that created an avenue for the discovery of cure herbs. As a result, some special herbs were preserved and used as medicine. This discovery created confidence in the early civilizations to move to new areas with an idea of expanding their territories. The new efforts yielded enormous fruits as these communities were able to acquire new areas of land that could be used for farming.

The production of food also entailed the rearing of animals and the domestication of world animals. It is through domestication of world animals that early civilizations realized that they could tame different animals and train others such as bulls on the tilling of land. This led to the innovation of the plough. The level of production also grew since the people could farm on larger farms hence higher yields. The animals also provided manure, which served as fertilizer before the innovation of modern fertilizers. On the other hand, the domestic animals due to the reduction in hunting and gathering grew in numbers and could only be slaughtered during special occasions. The people also innovated new ways of storing meat for longer periods since they did not entirely rely on meat as the only source of food. The availability of domestic animals, as well as a wide variety, enabled the early civilizations to start the designing of better clothes from materials such as wool and animal skin. On the other hand, the taming of animals, as well as their consumption, also had negative effects. Animal diseases such as smallpox and flu also affected humans. Such cases called for innovation to tackle the disease challenges. Generally, the spread of food production among different communities sparked population growth and a myriad of other necessary innovative solutions to challenges affecting people and their close domestic animals. The new inventions and the growth in societies led to an immense transformation in different areas.

The Bantu Expansion

As early as 1400AD, several races inhabited the Africa continent. Some of these include the Khoisan, the North Africans who were mostly white, the blacks as well as the African Pygmies. The Bantu’s were a group of Blacks who practiced farming as their economic activity. This group was the most populous and first inhabited the West Africa region. Due to population growth, the Bantus were pushed to move in search of pasture and land for farming. Because of the immunity that the Bantus had developed as a result of farming, they had strong social structures, which enabled them to pressure other communities such as the Khoisan. The fast population growth among the Bantu’s enabled them to develop strong community armies that could stage wars with resisting communities and overpower them, eventually taking over a region. The Bantu’s had to empress innovativeness to adapt to new areas that they occupied. Initially, the West African Bantu’s kept animals and farmed wet climate crops. In their expansion, especially in East Africa, the Bantus allowed the coexistence with the Khoisan, who were hunters and gatherers. Such social innovation enabled the Bantu’s to trade with other communities that they came across along the East Africa coast.

Although the Bantu’s were experienced farmers, the expansion into new areas posed threats for their main economic activity. As such, extreme weather affected the production of adequate food through crop production. Hence, they had to leverage farming, farming, and gathering to go through extreme weather conditions. This resulted in discoveries since the Bantu’s discovered essential natural roots that provided essential nutrients to the body. On another note, farming of crops was found to be useful, especially in boosting immunity. The Bantu’s spread the skills of farming to other communities that they interacted with during their migration. As they displaced some communities such as the Khoisan and the African Pygmies, these communities were also assimilated into farming. These cultural encounters triggered by the migration of the Bantu created transformation through availing sustainable and alternative sources of economic activities.

The Spread of Writing.

The invention of the skill of writing was a milestone in communication. This allowed for the transfer of accurate information over long distances. At the same time, writing as a means of communication was limited to those who could understand the writing as well as the language that has been written. Examples of expansion such as Eurasia, the writing was an essential skill that enabled the early visitors to capture the details on the new geographical areas. Additionally, writing was an essential skill to support innovations, especially in navigation technology. Since moving long distances for the colonizers was essential, water transport was a feasible option.

Therefore, the understanding of writing and the different writing languages enabled scientists to make critical improvements in the designed boats. The main technological advancements entailed the speed of the boats, stability ability as well as the ability to navigate.

In conclusion, although the different cultural encounters had numerous effects, the positive impact that resulted in the exchange of ideas, innovation, and transformation improved the level of development in different communities. Also, the competition brought by the encounters between different communities enabled them to adapt to new areas hence developing new cultures. Finally, it was essential for the different expansions, for example, the Bantu expansion because naturally, other people in the continent realized that there were other types of people who lived in the region. Such created the much-needed awareness about the world and its inhabitants.