FOOD PRODUCTION

AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM

Agriculture is considered as a system because it has inputs, processes and outputs

Inputs- include everything that goes into the farm system used to produce the final product. Inputs are
divided into;

physical inputs – climate, soils and drainage, relief, temperature, growing season

Human inputs - labour, buildings, fuel/energy, seeds, livestock, machinery, rent, transport costs and
chemicals among others

Processes – these are the methods by which inputs are changed to outputs, they include, ploughing,
sowing, planting, feeding, breeding, irrigation, storage and harvesting.

Outputs - are the agricultural products produced from the processes e,g fruits, rice, vegetables, meat,
milk. Some undergo processing outside the farms e,g wheat into flour, cotton into textiles

Farming systems vary within and between countries because the inputs may be different and the
processes will therefore be affected. However, there are some factors beyond the farmers control that
can affect the system of agricultural production. These include;

Floods, drought, diseases, pests, change in demand, change in market price, change in subsidy.

Types of agricultural systems

1. Specialization

Arable pastoral and mixed farming

Arable farms. It involves cultivation of crops only. They may concentrate on one crop (monoculture) or a
range of different crops.
Pastoral farming/ranching/livestock farming- it involves keeping livestock such as cattles, sheep and
pigs.

Mixed farming involves cultivating crops and keeping livestock together on a farm.

Economic status

Subsistence farming

It is the form of agriculture where the produce is produced for consumption. If there is a small surplus, it
is sold. It is generally on a small scale and labour intensive with little or no technological input

Examples of subsistence farming are shifting cultivation or nomadic herding.

Commercial farming produces everything for sell.

Examples are large crop plantations and pastoral ranching

3 Intensity of land use

Extensive and intensive farming

Extensive farming is where a relatively small amount of agricultural produce is obtained per hectare of
land so such farms tend to cover large areas of land. Inputs per unit of land are low.

Intensive farming is characterized by high inputs per unit of land to achieve high yields per hectare.

The influences of natural and human inputs on agricultural land use

Physical or natural factors

- Temperature is acritical factor in crop growth as each type of crop requires minimum growing
temp and min growing season. Temperature is also a critical factor in pastoral farming. Most
crops need a min temp of 6’C
- Precipitation is equally important; it is not only the annual precipitations but also the way it is
distributed throughout the year. Long and steady period of rainwater to infiltrate into the soil
are the best making enough water available for crop growth. However, short heavy rains result
in surface runoff leaving less water available for crop growth and soil erosion.
 - Soil type and fertility have huge impact on agricultural productivity. Crop growth requires fertile
soils rich with nutrients.
- Relief is also an important factor in crop production as some crops do not grow well in
mountainous areas such as rice which prefer flat wet areas.

Human factors

Economic Factors- They include transport, markets, capital and technology. The cost of growing different
crops or keeping animals varies.

Availability of labour will also enhance farming to take place. As human labour is always need to run the
operation of the farms even with heavy presence of mechanisation

Social/cultural factors - In some cultures, there is a tendency for farmers to stay with what they know
best and often a sense of trans-generation responsibility to maintain a family farming tradition. Land
tenure also affect the type of agriculture system to be practiced.

Political factors- The influence of government on farming has steadily increased in many countries. For
examples in the USA government farm policies include;

-support loans

-production controls – these limit how much a farmer can produce

- Farms subsidy program – where farmers are given start up parks for the farming

Causes of food shortages

Political factors

 Lack of investments in agriculture- many developing countries lack good roads, ware houses
and irrigation systems that would help them overcome hunger. In most developing countries
there no loans to farmers to boost their production levels.
 War and displacement - Wars disrupt farming and food production

Natural factors
 Floods - overflow of rivers on its banks that destroys the agricultural land nearby resulting into
low crop yields and food shortage.
 Tropical storms are storms that originates in the oceans during the warmer seasons and it is
characterized by high destructive winds on the surrounding areas that destroys crops resulting
into low crop yields
 Drought which is the lack of adequate precipitation to sustain growth resulting into low yields.
 Pest and diseases that attacks crops are also a contributing factor to low crop and animal
production.

Human factors
 Unstable markets – in recent years’ prices of agricultural products has been very unstable, this
make it difficult for the poorest people to get nutritious food consistently.
 Food wastage – One third of all the food produced is never consumed. This food wastage is a
missed opportunity to improve food security. It is mainly due to lack of proper storage facilities
and food processing systems
  High population growth – the rapid increase in the population of an area has a high negative
impact on the land and the level of production to meet the demand

Effects of food shortages

1. It affects the human reproduction – inadequate dietary intake during pregnancy increases the
risk of birth defects, low birth weight, premature birth and development risks.
2. It leads to malnutrition among children and adults which leads to malnutrition diseases such as
marasmus and kwashiorkor
3. Causes the chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart diseases
4. It also leads to depression. During food shortages a lot of families especially heads of families
strive hard to find food, this can cause stress to them which can lead to depression even to
death

SOLUTIONS TO FOOD SHORTAGES

 Food aid – it Is the provision of food to cope with food shortages in area.
Types of food aids
- Relief / emergency aid – delivered to people for freely in response to crisis
- Programme food aid – provided directly to the government of a country for sale in local
markets usually comes with conditions
- Project food aid – given to a targeted group for a long term development /food security plan
 Irrigation – it is the artificial application of water onto the agricultural land with the aim of
increasing crop production.
 Educating people on different ways of processing and storing food
 Appropriate technology – it involves use of simple technologies to help boost or sustain the food
production.
 Land reforms – it tries to resolve long held difficulties with the ownership of land that exists in
many developing countries. promotion of equal distribution of land can help to ensure adequate
food for all
 Encouraging food producers to produce more surplus foods, process and store them. stabilizing
the market prices also helps to encourage the operation of the producers to produce more food
 Reducing tax on food processing equipment or chemicals so that private individuals can be
encouraged to go into food processing business thereby allowing more farmers to access them
and improve their food storage systems.
 Green Revolution – it is a package of agricultural improvements aimed at increasing food
production such as use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, fast and high yielding crops and
multiple cropping.
Advantages
- more yields are achieved
- Shorter growing season allows extra crops grown in same area
- Farming incomes increase,
- Employment is created in industries supplying farm inputs

Disadvantages

- high costs of production are incurred

- HYV have inferior taste
- Mechanization has increased rural unemployment
- HYV require more weed control and are susceptible to pests and diseases
  Provision of loans and subsidies farm inputs to farmers in order to increase the food production

Case study –