UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

INSTITUTE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

GES 1310. INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

NAME: HADLEY CHAMBULA

COMPUTER #: 20018778

MOBILE #: 0977444377

COURSE: GES 1310 - INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY

COURSE COORDINATOR: MUNDIA NAMUSHI CHARLES

TASK: TEST FOUR

DUE DATE: 29 MAY 2022 at 11:59PM

Question: Discuss Von Thunens model of Agriculture.
In the conservation model, location variations in agricultural development were related primarily
to differences in environment factors. It stands in sharp contrast to models which interpret
geographical differences in the level and the rate of economic development primarily in terms of
the level and rate of urban-industrial development. Initially, the urban-industrial impact model
was formulated by Von Thunen to explain geographic variations in the intensity of farming
system and in the productivity of labour in an industrialized society. Later this model was
expanded to explain the more effective performance of the factor and product markets linking the
agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in regions characterized by rapid urban-industrial
development. The model has been tested extensively in the limited states but has received only
limited attention in the less developed world.
Von Thünen's model helps explain the relationship between the cost of land and the cost to
transport the crop to market. Using all the data collected, von Thünen began to write about the
spatial structure of agriculture. The von Thünen agricultural model was an attempt to answer the
problem of balancing the cost of land rents with the most effective crops to grow.
Created before industrialization, Von Thünen’s key assumptions in the classical model are:
1) a city is centrally located in an “isolated state,”
2) one of the surrounding areas around a town is wilderness,
3) land is generally flat,
4) soil quality and climate are consistent,
5) farmers transport goods to a market using mainly carts, and
6) farmers behave rationally in choosing where to conduct their activities.
The model indicates that there are generally four main circles around the city that consist, from
nearest to a town and moving outwards, of: 1) intense farming, 2) forest lands, 3) extensive
farming, and 4) grazing. Rent prices for land are high near a city. The model generally explains
variation of land rent and market activity of a region around towns.
For one, distance to market for given goods does have a relationship with profitability,
which von Thünen’s model demonstrates clearly. This makes the model broadly applicable for
products created near a market, showing that products made near a town have a potential to be
more profitable, although even here a modern globalized world means for given products distant
labor could lower prices.