Module 40 Lesson

5.9 The Global System
of Agriculture

Objective and Essential Learning

Explain the interdependence among regions of agricultural
production and consumption.

▪Food and other agricultural products are part of a global supply chain.

▪Some countries have become highly dependent on one or more export commodities.

▪The main elements of global food distribution networks are affected by political relationships,
infrastructure, and patterns of world trade.

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For this learning goal, you will learn to:

• Explain the interdependence of the global supply

chain and agricultural production and
consumption.

• Describe impacts of the global supply chain of

food at multiple scales.

The interdependence of the global supply chain and
agricultural production and consumption

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Global supply chain: Agribusinesses, organized at the global scale;
encompasses all elements of growing, harvesting, processing,
transporting, marketing, consuming, and disposing of food for
people.

The interdependence of the global supply chain and
agricultural production and consumption

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Interdependence of agricultural production and consumption

• The global supply chain for agriculture is dominated by a handful of

multinational corporations, collectively engaged in agribusinesses
that control multiple stages of the process.

• Agribusinesses that produce chicken own or control:

o mills
o hatcheries
o slaughtering plants
o secondary processing facilities
o product brands

The interdependence of the global supply chain and
agricultural production and consumption

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Interdependence of agricultural production and consumption

• About 25,000 farmers in the United States are under contract with

30 agribusinesses to raise chickens, and about 90 percent of all U.S.
chickens are now raised under contract.

• Agribusinesses sell in both national and global markets.

The interdependence of the global supply chain and
agricultural production and consumption

Contract farming: Arrangement between an independent farmer and an
agribusiness company to produce a crop; the agribusiness provides the
farmer with all the supplies needed to produce a crop in exchange for a
guaranteed price and buyer.

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Globalization of production and consumption

The interdependence of the global supply chain and
agricultural production and consumption

Proprietary seeds: Seeds that are developed and entirely owned by a
company.

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Globalization of production and consumption

The interdependence of the global supply chain and
agricultural production and consumption

• In the last decades

of the twentieth
century, world
chicken trade grew
nearly 500 percent,
and the U.S. share
of that trade
doubled.

Multiple Choice

The expansion of European empires in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is strongly related to the expansion of: 

• a. tropical plantation agriculture 

• b. market gardening 

• c. nomadic herding 

• d. dairying 

• e. animal domestication

Multiple Choice

Which country used to be the largest importer of chickens, and is now one of the top exporters?

• a. Canada 

• b. China 

• c. the United States 

• d. India 

• e. France 

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For this learning goal, you will learn to:

• Explain export commodities and how they affect

countries.

• Describe impacts of exporting commodities on

producing countries.

Export commodities and how they affect countries

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Export commodities and how they affect countries

Export commodity: A cash crop that is produced for export to
wealthier countries at the expense of crop production for local
consumption.

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Impacts on producing countries

• Dependency on one or two export commodities can leave a country

vulnerable when crops fail or tastes change, or when competition
from other areas decreases exports and income.

Export commodities and how they affect countries

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Impacts on producing countries

• What are

the impacts
of the
coffee trade
on the
producers?

Export commodities and how they affect countries

Multiple Choice

Which statement is NOT true of agribusiness? 

• a. It is large-scale and mechanized. 

• b. It thrives in communist nations. 

• c. It is often vertically integrated. 

• d. It is dependent on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. 

• e. It controls all aspects from the soil to the table of agricultural production

Multiple Choice

What is the effect of abandoning the consumption of local crop varieties?

• a. an increase in biodiversity 

• b. a slowing down of globalization 

• c. a decline in biodiversity 

• d. increased consumption of wheat 

• e. increased trade relations with competing supplies 

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT a main export commodity from the country listed?

• a. cacao from Ghana 

• b. palm oil from Malaysia 

• c. cotton from Mozambique 

• d. pineapples from France 

• e. tea from Sri Lanka

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For this learning goal, you will learn to:

• Explain the effects of political relationships,

infrastructure, and patterns of world trade on
global food distribution networks.

• Define subsidies as well as famine.

Effects of political relationships, infrastructure, and patterns
of world trade on global food distribution networks

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Political relationships

• International trade favors the farmers in wealthier countries as

government subsidies keep the prices of their agricultural exports
artificially low.

• Farmers in developing countries find it difficult to compete with

those low prices.

Subsidies: Guaranteed prices for staple food crops.

Effects of political relationships, infrastructure, and patterns
of world trade on global food distribution networks

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Political relationships

• Many developing countries do not grow enough food to feed their

populations and cannot afford to purchase enough imported food to
make up the difference.

• Bangladesh, a very poor country, suffered a major famine in 1974.
• Internal government policies can also lead to famine, as in China’s

forced collectivization on state-run farms. During China’s Great Leap
Forward (1958-1961), around 30 million rural peasants died of
starvation.

Famine: Extreme scarcity of food.

Effects of political relationships, infrastructure, and patterns
of world trade on global food distribution networks

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Infrastructure

• The first road built during

Spanish colonization of
Mexico was El Camino Real,
which linked the port of
Veracruz with Mexico City.

• This road was not built to

benefit the local population,
but to exploit natural
resources.

Effects of political relationships, infrastructure, and patterns
of world trade on global food distribution networks

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Infrastructure

• Infrastructure built by colonial powers left a lasting imprint.
• The primary goal was to transport trade goods out of their colonies,

bypassing the local population’s need for food.

• While there have been improvements in the last few decades, the

primary systems remain, carrying goods from plantations out of the
countries and raising the level of food insecurity in the local region.

Effects of political relationships, infrastructure, and patterns
of world trade on global food distribution networks

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Patterns of worldwide trade

• Many developing countries have been quite successful in increasing

exports of tropical products, but they risk over reliance on specific
crops (e.g., coffee).

• Global trade fluctuates as consumer tastes change and as

competition increases.

Effects of political relationships, infrastructure, and patterns
of world trade on global food distribution networks

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Patterns of worldwide trade

• Regional trade

agreements that reduce
or eliminate taxes on
imported goods are also
a factor in worldwide
trade.

Effects of political relationships, infrastructure, and patterns
of world trade on global food distribution networks

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Patterns of worldwide trade

• Agribusinesses have a

strong incentive to keep
costs down and profits
high, which has domino
effects across the
agricultural system and
the economy.

Effects of political relationships, infrastructure, and patterns
of world trade on global food distribution networks

Multiple Choice

Which African nation, ruled by Robert Mugabe, experienced a famine in the early 2000s when the government prohibited commercial farmers from farming? 

• a. Namibia 

• b. Kenya 

• c. Botswana 

• d. Zimbabwe 

• e. South Africa 

Multiple Choice

The Great Leap Forward and the presidency of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe were both characterized by: 

• a. the introduction of highly mechanized farming 

• b. food shortages and starvation due to governmental policies 

• c. the introduction of many genetically altered crops into the local agriculture

• d. heavy government subsidies to commercial farmers 

• e. seizure of private farm lands by the government 

Multiple Choice

In which country did the Great Leap Forward lead to mass starvation? 

• a. Bangladesh 

• b. China 

• c. Ireland 

• d. Indonesia 

   

• e. Zimbabwe

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best explains how international political economics is the primary cause of hunger in the world? 

• a. Agricultural surpluses are discarded if they cannot be sold on the world market for a set price. 

• b. Governments impose trade restrictions on other countries when they cannot get the price for commodities that are demanded. 

• c. Governments negotiate trade policies based on political relationships which can include trade embargos for some products. 

• d. Government subsidies in wealthy countries protect farmers from competition by keeping the price of agricultural exports artificially low. 

• e. Governments impose commodity export restrictions on countries that do not meet fair trade standards for labor wages.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best explains how regional trade agreements have helped to create less food insecurity and lower prices for imported foods? 

• a. Higher-cost products from a member country replace lower-cost imports from non-member countries resulting in higher consumer prices. 

• b. The increased role of agribusiness to maximize profits for the companies drives regional trade agreements. 

• c. Regional trade agreements allow for lower-cost imports from partner countries and access to a larger market. 

• d. Regional trade agreements eliminate tariffs on all imported goods from member states. 

• e. Countries benefit from increased yields of GMO products that they can sell to trade members or on the world market.

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Summary and Review

Agribusinesses, organized at the global
scale; encompasses all elements of
growing, harvesting, processing,
transporting, marketing, consuming, and
disposing of food for people

1) Define global supply chain.

2) Define contract farming.

Arrangement between an independent
farmer and an agribusiness company to
produce a crop; the agribusiness provides
the farmer with all the supplies needed to
produce a crop in exchange for a
guaranteed price and buyer

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The global supply chain for agriculture is
dominated by a handful of multinational
corporations, collectively engaged in
agribusinesses that control multiple stages
of the process

3) Describe the
interdependence of
agricultural production and
consumption.

4) Define export commodity.

A cash crop that is produced for export to
wealthier countries at the expense of crop
production for local consumption

Summary and Review

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This can leave a country vulnerable when
crops fail or tastes change, or when
competition from other areas decreases
exports and income

5) Describe how dependency
on one or two export
commodities affects
producing countries.

6) Identify factors that affect
global food distribution
networks.

Political relationships, infrastructure, and
patterns of world trade

Summary and Review