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Why did population growth increase after food production became established?
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Domestication
Domesticated yaks (Bos grunniens) carrying supplies to an Everest base camp in Sagarmatha National Park, Khumbu region, Nepal.
Contrary to the once-held belief that population pressure caused the development of agriculture, research indicates that human populations rose significantly only after food production was established.1
The increase in population was a consequence of the changes in lifestyle and resource management that accompanied the transition to agriculture. As the productivity and predictability of local food resources improved through the cultivation of plants and the herding of animals, the logistics of procurement shifted. This led to several key changes:21
- Increased Stability: As people became more reliant on managed resources, group composition became more stable and residential mobility declined.2
- Sedentism: The need to travel to take advantage of seasonally available items decreased, allowing many societies to adopt a sedentary way of life, living in one place year-round.23
- Resource Management: Domestication provided a more reliable supply of food, such as meat and milk, compared to hunting wild game, which helped maintain populations by providing insurance during lean seasons.1
These factors collectively allowed for larger, more stable communities, which supported the observed growth in human populations.2