The Global System of Agriculture
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| global supply chain/ˈɡləʊbl səˈplaɪ tʃeɪn/ | A network of suppliers, producers and distributors linking production and delivery across countries. |
| agribusiness/ˈæɡrɪbɪznəs/ | Commercial activities linking agricultural inputs, farming, processing, distribution and marketing. |
| export commodities/ˈekspɔːt kəˈmɒdɪtiz/ | Goods, often raw materials or agricultural products, produced for sale to buyers in other countries. |
| fair trade/feə treɪd/ | Trading arrangements intended to improve producers' working conditions, prices and bargaining position, often through specified standards or certification. |
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...
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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.
A commodity chain: most value is added after the farm (illustrative)
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.
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A price crash in the main crop can devastate the economy.
Select all features of the global agricultural system.
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Long chains, agribusiness, and dependency define it; it is highly interconnected, not isolated.
Match each term to its meaning.
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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.
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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.
Write from coffee as 80 percent of exports
- A country earns 80 percent of its export revenue from coffee.
- It imports much of its grain.
What vulnerability does this pattern create?
A single export crop makes national income fragile.
Why is this export pattern risky?
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One price controls most of the export income.