We shouldn't quote by imaginations or assumptions,
No imaginations. Facts.
You mean those countries were better in the past? What about countries like China or Mexico, that do not appear there, where people used to die of famine and today they have an obesity problem?
If you claim hunger has been drastically reduced what happens to countries where workers earn below their daily expenses, How about countries where their currency have little or no value.
That, in general, they are better off than in the past, although there are always exceptions.
Currently agriculture is not promoted has it was in the past, many are turning into soft works except for countries where mechanised agriculture is rampant. .
What is there to promote in agriculture when it is highly mechanized? In the past it took dozens of men to produce less than what can be achieved today by a single person using machines.