Resource Provision Food: Key Terms
Resource Provision Food: Key Terms
Resource Provision Food: Key Terms
Types of farming
Aeroponics – Growing plants in air with nutrient mist.
Aquaponics – Combining fish farming and hydroponics.
Arable farming – Growing crops.
Commercial farming – Producing food to sell.
Extensive farming – Large area, low input and output.
Hydroponics – Growing plants in water with nutrients.
Intensive farming – High input for high output.
Mixed farming – Combining crops and animals.
Nomadic farming – Moving with animals for grazing.
Pastoral farming – Rearing animals.
Sedentary farming – Permanently located farming.
Subsistence farming – Growing food for the farmer's own use.
Vertical farming – Growing crops in stacked layers or towers.
Farms as a system
Capital – Money available to invest in machinery and farming inputs.
Farm size – Affects economies of scale and what can be produced.
Human inputs – Labour, machinery, subsidies, and seeds.
Inputs – All materials and resources that go into farming.
Market demand – Consumer interest influences what is grown or reared.
Natural inputs – Climate, soil, water, and relief.
Outputs – Products from the farm like milk, crops, eggs, or meat.
Processes – Activities like sowing, shearing, harvesting, feeding.
Global patterns of calorie intake
Calorie intake – The number of calories consumed per person per day.
Food distribution – Unequal spread of food across regions.
Overnutrition – Eating too many calories, often in HICs.
Undernutrition – Not eating enough calories or a balanced nutritious diet, common in LICs.
Changing global production and consumption
Agribusiness – Large-scale commercial farming.
Food culture – Changing diets influenced by globalisation.
Food miles – Distance food travels from production to consumer.
Globalisation – Increased food trade and supply chain efficiency.
Monoculture – Growing one crop extensively.
Seasonality – Availability of food based on season, now reduced due to global trade.
Western diet – High-calorie, processed food, spreading to MICs and LICs.
Factors affecting food supply
Climate – The average atmospheric conditions, temperature and precipitation which affects crop growth.
Irrigation – Artificial watering to increase crop yields.
Pests and diseases – Reduce crop and livestock productivity.
Soil quality – Depth, pH, and fertility influence crop choice.
Technology – Use of machinery and fertilisers to increase yields.
Water stress – Lack of water for crops due to dry climate or poor infrastructure.
Problems caused by food insecurity
Food deficit – When a country cannot produce or import enough food.
Famine – Widespread lack of food causing extreme hunger and death.
Malnutrition – Poor diet lacking nutrients.
Migration – Movement caused by lack of food.
Rising food prices – Inflation affecting affordability of food.
Social unrest – Riots or conflict due to food shortages.
Wasting – Low weight for height in children due to malnutrition.
Strategies to increase food supply
Appropriate technology – Low-cost solutions like crop rotation and terracing.
Drip irrigation – Controlled delivery of water directly to plant roots.
Food aid – Emergency or long-term food distribution.
Genetically modified (GM) crops – Altered genes to increase resistance and yield.
High-yield varieties (HYVs) – Crops bred for maximum output.
Mechanisation – Machines used in agriculture to increase efficiency.
Surface irrigation – Gravity-fed water spread across fields.
Strategies to manage soil erosion & desertification
Agroforestry – Growing crops between trees to stabilise soil.
Afforestation – Planting trees to bind soil and improve fertility.
Contour ploughing – Ploughing along slope contours to reduce runoff.
Crop rotation – Changing crops grown in a particular area/field each season to maintain soil health.
Desertification – Land turning becoming desert-like due to overuse or climate change.
Great Green Wall – Tree-planting project across Africa’s Sahel to halt desertification.
Over-cultivation – Repeated farming that exhausts soil nutrients.
Overgrazing – Too many animals eating vegetation, leading to soil erosion.
Terracing – Building steps into slopes to slow water flow and prevent erosion.
Case study: Yemen
Food insecurity causes – Conflict, drought, pests, and corruption.
Food prices – Inflation making food unaffordable.
Humanitarian aid – Provided by UNICEF, Red Cross, WFP, Oxfam.
Locust swarms – Pests that destroy crops.
Malnutrition in children – Over 50% of under-5s affected.
Port blockades – Restricting aid and food imports.
UN estimates – Over 226,000 deaths linked to food shortages.