Food production and energy supply

Last time

Before we start: last time, in Measuring development and changing employment, you learned these points. Here they are again on one card. Keep them in mind, because today builds on them.

Feeding and powering the world

Every country must produce or import food, and supply energy for homes and industry. The methods differ greatly between countries. This lesson covers farming systems, food shortages, and how energy is supplied.

The farm as a system

Inputs: physical ones such as land, climate and water; human ones such as labour, seeds, machinery and fertiliser. Processes: ploughing, sowing, weeding, harvesting, milking. Outputs: crops, animal products, and profit, or food for the family.

Types of farming

Subsistence farming produces food for the farmer's family; commercial farming produces for sale. Arable farming grows crops; pastoral farming rears animals; mixed farming does both. Intensive farming uses a lot of labour or capital on a small area; extensive farming uses large areas with few inputs.

Food shortages

Natural causes: drought, floods, pests and plant diseases. Human causes: war, poverty, poor transport and storage, and population growth faster than food supply. Effects: malnutrition, famine, and higher food prices.

Increasing food supply

High-yielding seeds, fertilisers and irrigation, the Green Revolution, raise output. Genetically modified crops can resist pests or drought, though some people worry about their effects. Better storage, roads and food aid in emergencies reduce shortages.

Energy sources

Non-renewable sources will run out: coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear fuel. Renewable sources will not run out: hydro-electric, solar, wind, geothermal, tidal and biomass, such as fuelwood. In many LEDCs, fuelwood is a major source for cooking.

How a named country supplies energy

Name the country, then its main sources, and roughly how important each is. Explain why: its natural resources, such as rivers for hydro power or coal reserves, and its wealth and technology. For Pakistan, for example: thermal power from gas and oil, hydro power from large dams, and growing solar and wind.

Advantages and problems of energy sources

Fossil fuels are reliable, but cause air pollution and climate change. Hydro power is clean, but dams flood land and displace people. Solar and wind are clean, but depend on the weather.

Farming types

Farming types and an example of each.

Mistakes that lose marks

Mistake one: confusing intensive with extensive farming. Mistake two: calling nuclear power renewable. Mistake three: a named-country answer with no named country. The fix: precise terms and a named example.

The full-marks tip

The full-marks tip: describe a farm as inputs, processes and outputs. For energy in a named country, give its sources and explain why it uses them.

On one card

So, on one card: food and energy. Keep it for revision.