From Wikipedia article on Norman Borlaug:
- These collective increases in yield have been labeled the Green Revolution, and Borlaug is often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation
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(Wiki's reference: The phrase "over a billion lives saved" is often cited by others in reference to Norman Borlaug's work (e.g., [1]). According to Jan Douglas here, Executive Assistant to the World Prize Foundation, the source of this number is Gregg Easterbrook's 1997 article "Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity", the article states that the "form of agriculture that Borlaug preaches may have prevented a billion deaths.")
and
- Borlaug was also featured in an episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, where he was referred to as the "Greatest Human Being That Ever Lived". ...Penn ... says, "Norman is the greatest human being, and you've probably never heard of him." In the episode — the topic of which was genetically altered food — he is credited with saving the lives of over a billion people.
I don't have access to either the article mentioned in the reference or Penn and Teller material.
Is it a reliable claim? Is there official scientific research and statistics backing the 1 billion number?
(I don't mean to question the undeniable accomplishments of Norman Borlaug, merely the popular expression associated with him).