What to do: Get out stuff for notes. Today’s notes are titled “Why do farmers face economic difficulties?”

Commonalities All farmers face these issues: Generating enough income Environmental issues

Developing countries Subsistence farmers: Have to feed more people on less land Due to rapid population growth Urban residents need it Effects: have to figure out how to grow more, which means stopping traditional methods Land is left fallow for less time a year What is the effect of this?

Dev’ing & international trade To keep up with demand, farmers need more supplies For some regions, supplies are imported But remember…farmers don’t have much surplus income Dev’ing countries produce food for dev’d countries. Consumers more likely to pay extra for food in dev’d As land farmed for exports increases, land farmed for consumption decreases Sub-Saharan Africa is struggling the most to keep food production ahead of population growth Famine Desertification Gov’t policies

Dev’ing countries & drug crops Common in Latin America & Asia Growing crops that can be turned into drugs Explains one of the many reasons the countries are struggling to develop & maintain stability Cocaine, heroin, & marijuana most common All 3 are addictive & impair productivity and judgment and mental clarity

Developed countries Have low prices because they produce so much Gov’t subsidies supplement income

Dev’d countries & overproduction Less animals and farmers but more food being produced New technologies have increased yield Fertilizer, seeds, pesticides, machinery, etc. Supply has increased but demand has remained constant One solution has been for gov’t to buy excess and donate to foreign gov’ts Irony: dev’ing countries told to grow more food, dev’d countries told to grow less food

Dev’d & access to markets Von Thunen: taught that distance from farm to market influences crop purchased

Market/City Gardens & Dairy Ring 1: Gardens & dairy; expensive to deliver, quick access because perishable Forestry/lumber Ring 2: Forestry/lumber; used for construction or fuel, close to market b/c weight Crop rotation Ring 3: crop rotation; everything else; rotates from one year to next Grazing Ring 4: grazing pastures; needs space

Increasing food supply Most food products moving from Western Hemisphere to Eastern Hemisphere Main exporters: Latin America, North America Major importers: Japan, UK, China, Russia

Expanding agricultural land Reasons we have less farmland: Desertification Urbanization

Expanding fishing Seafood only a fraction of food supply Wild caught Aquaculture-controlled conditions Consumption has increased but b/c of fish meal to feed animals Some species have been harvested faster than reproduction

Increasing productivity Green Revolution-focused on inventing more productive agricultural techniques in 1970s & 1980s Higher yield seeds or “miracle seeds” Fertilizers Some successes in preventing food crises Requires more fertilizer for miracle seeds and more machinery Developing countries don’t always have the $$ for these things Gov’ts can subsidize the cost but that requires them to have funds and stability and sovereignty

Genetically modified foods Controlled reproduction to produce plants with the most favorable traits Genetic change ¾ of food in USA is genetically modified Europe opposed to GM foods GMO & bananas So should we genetically modify the plant to be more resistant?