Key Words and Concepts – Final Exam

 

Factors affecting future demand for food:

 

How might changes in population dynamics affect food demand?

 

Demographic factors

growth rate

changes in structure of population

 

Non-demographic factors

income

urbanization

changing food preferences

 

Factors affecting future supply of foodstuffs:  How to increase yields?

 

Expanding crop land

                        Potential for expanding crop land

Problems associated with, both environmental and non-environmental         

 

Environmental problems

Deforestation                           

Soil erosion

Desertification

 

Non-environmental

                                    Distribution

Infrastructure

Political

 

Increasing plant yield:  Soil factors, plant factors, climate factors, socio-economic factors

                        What are the potentials and the problems associated with each of these?

 

Improving plant varieties

Irrigation

Fertilizer

Social, economic and political factors

 

Irrigation: availability of water, salinization, waterlogging

                        Fertilizer: economic and environmental costs

 

Globalization

technological and institutional forces affecting globalization of agriculture

Transportation, mechanization

WTO, GATT, NAFTA

development and modernization

Mexico example

 

Doubly Green Revolution