Resource Provision Food: Key Terms (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Geography): Revision Note

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, 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 – Affects crop growth through temperature, rainfall, droughts.

• Conflict – War disrupts farming and food distribution.

• 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.

• Undernutrition – Not eating enough calories for health.

• 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 each season to maintain soil health.

• Desertification – Land turning into desert due to overuse or climate change.

• Great Green Wall – Tree-planting project across Africa’s Sahel to halt desert spread.

• 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.