Development of Agriculture

Syllabus tag: KCSE | History and Government | Form 1 | Topic 4 Development of Agriculture

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Explain how and why crops and animals were domesticated.
• Name the early crops and animals and where each was first domesticated.
• Describe early agriculture in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
• Explain the effects of the development of agriculture on human society.

Summary

Domestication is the taming of wild animals and cultivation of wild plants for human use. It began in the Neolithic period, first in the Middle East around the Fertile Crescent. Early crops were wheat, barley, rice and yams; early animals the dog, goat, sheep, cattle and camel. Agriculture produced surplus, which changed human society permanently.