美国著名历史作家房龙曾这样概括说:“人类的历史就是饥饿的动物寻找食物的历史。”换句话说,人类的历史也是饥荒的历史。饥荒的历史要比农业的出现更为久远,从某种意义上,农业或许是人类为了应对饥荒而不得已的发明,但农业也没有终结饥荒,甚至说,农业反而使饥荒的灾难更加可怕。事实上,从游牧到定居性的农业,人类更易遭到自然灾害(特别是干旱)的威胁,因为食物的储存总是有限的。农 The famous American historical writer Fang Long once summed it up as follows: “Human history is the history of hungry animals looking for food.” In other words, human history is also the history of famine. The history of famine is more ancient than the emergence of agriculture. In a sense, agriculture may be the last resort of mankind in response to famine. However, agriculture has not ended the famine. Even agriculture has even made the catastrophe of famine more terrible. In fact, from nomadic to settled agriculture, humans are more exposed to the dangers of natural disasters, especially droughts, because food stocks are always limited. Farmers