The Global System of Agriculture
Introduced| English |
|---|
| global supply chain/ˈɡləʊbl səˈplaɪ tʃeɪn/ |
| agribusiness/ˈæɡrɪbɪznəs/ |
| export commodities/ˈekspɔːt kəˈmɒdɪtiz/ |
| fair trade/feə treɪd/ |
Farming is now global
- Modern farming is a global supply chain 全球供应链.
- Agribusiness 农业综合企业 links farms to seed, machinery, processing, and retail companies.
- Your food may travel thousands of kilometres before you eat it.
The web of companies linking farms to seed, processing, and retail is called...
Agribusiness links the whole food supply chain.
Specialisation and dependency
- Many countries specialise in a few export commodities 出口商品 (coffee, cocoa, soy).
- This can make them dependent on world prices they cannot control.
- A price crash can devastate a whole national economy.
Global-chain concept?
Match each example to the global-agriculture concept it shows.
Depending on a single export commodity makes a country vulnerable to world price swings.
A price crash in the main crop can devastate the economy.
Select all features of the global agricultural system.
Long chains, agribusiness, and dependency define it; it is highly interconnected, not isolated.
Match each term to its meaning.
Agribusiness = companies; commodity = export crop; fair trade = fair price.
Inequality and responses
- The global system can be unequal: rich buyers, poor producers.
- Fair trade 公平贸易 pays farmers a fairer, more stable price.
- Local-food and organic movements react against the long global chain.
A movement that guarantees farmers a fairer, more stable price is called ____ trade.
Fair trade aims to protect small producers from price crashes.
Depending on one export commodity is risky. If the world price of a country's main crop crashes, it has little to fall back on. This is a legacy of colonial economies built to supply raw materials — not a free choice made by the producers.
A country that earns most of its money from exporting cocoa is at the mercy of the world cocoa price. A bad year or a price crash hits farmers and the whole economy — which is why fair trade tries to guarantee a stable minimum price.
Modern farming is a global supply chain run by agribusiness. Many countries depend on a few export commodities, leaving them exposed to world prices. Fair trade, local-food, and organic movements respond to the inequality of the long global chain.