The world's population has more than doubled in the past 60 years, yet global cereal production has grown even faster, so food supply per person has risen. Cereals such as wheat, rice and maize provide much of the calories people eat. Gains came mainly from higher yields, through better seeds, fertiliser, irrigation and mechanisation, rather than from farming vastly more land. Growth has not been even, and food access is still uneven between countries and households.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.