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Who were the first farmers?

Today, farming provides nearly all of our food, but people started as hunter-gatherers, so how did farming begin?

Farming is a relatively recent invention for our species. For most of human history, people were hunter-gatherers. They moved around the landscape to get their food, hunting prey and gathering fruits and cereals from their environment.
But then, around 10 thousand years ago, human society shifted, and the first farmers appear in archaeological records around the world. So how did this idea start? Who planted the first seed and domesticated the wild ancestors of our cows and chickens?
That’s what Listener Brian wanted to know, and so CrowdScience presenter Anand Jagatia seeks out the archaeologists, geneticists and anthropologists who can give us the answers.

Presenter: Anand Jagatia,
Producer: Rory Galloway

(Photo: A farmer working in a green cotton field with two bulls. Credit: Getty Images)

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29 minutes

Last on

Mon 15 Jul 201917:32GMT
BBC World Service South Asia

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  • Fri 12 Jul 201919:32GMT
    BBC World Service except South Asia
  • Sat 13 Jul 201923:32GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Mon 15 Jul 201904:32GMT
    BBC World Service Online, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Europe and the Middle East only
  • Mon 15 Jul 201905:32GMT
    BBC World Service Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean & South Asia only
  • Mon 15 Jul 201906:32GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & East Asia only
  • Mon 15 Jul 201910:32GMT
    BBC World Service West and Central Africa
  • Mon 15 Jul 201913:32GMT
    BBC World Service Australasia
  • Mon 15 Jul 201917:32GMT
    BBC World Service South Asia

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