Key Concepts in Agribusiness and Development

Agribusiness

Large-scale, industrialized, and corporate-controlled farming focused on the production, processing, and distribution of agricultural products.

Example: Tyson Foods is an agribusiness involved in processing and distributing meat products.

Agricultural Revolution

A period of significant agricultural development marked by innovations in farming techniques (e.g., the first around 10,000 years ago; the second during the Industrial Revolution).

Example: The shift from hunting and gathering to farming in the Fertile Crescent around 10,000 years ago.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, and diseases between the Americas and the Old World after 1492.

Commercial Agriculture

Farming primarily for sale, often involving large-scale production and distribution to distant markets.

Example: Large-scale soybean farms in Brazil for international export.

Cash Crops

Crops grown specifically for sale and profit, rather than for local consumption (e.g., cotton, coffee, tobacco).

Example: Cotton grown in India for sale on the global market.

Crop

Any cultivated plant grown as food, fiber, or fodder.

Example: Wheat grown in the U.S. Midwest.

Food Security

Having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

Example: Japan has food security due to stable food imports and domestic production.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Organisms whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques to achieve desirable traits.

Examples: Bt corn grown in the U.S. that resists pests.

Green Revolution

A period (1940s-1960s) of agricultural transformation that increased production worldwide through high-yield crops, fertilizers, and irrigation.

Example: Use of high-yield rice varieties in India in the 1960s.

Herbicide

Chemical substance used to kill or inhibit the growth of unwanted plants (weeds).

Example: Roundup used to control weeds in cornfields.

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

Labor-intensive farming aimed at producing enough food for the farmer's family, common in densely populated areas of Asia.

Example: Rice farming in China where labor is high and land is used intensively.

Livestock

Domesticated animals raised for food, labor, or other products like wool or leather.

Example: Raising cattle in Argentina for beef production.

Organic Agriculture

Farming that avoids synthetic chemicals and GMOs, focusing on natural processes and sustainability.

Example: Farms in California certified as USDA Organic that avoid synthetic pesticides.

Pastoral Nomadism

A form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals, common in arid and semi-arid regions.

Example: The Maasai people in Kenya who move with their cattle in search of grazing land

Pesticide

Chemicals used to eliminate or control pests that damage crops.

Example: Insecticides sprayed on fruit crops to prevent pest infestations.

Plantation Farming

Large-scale agricultural operations that focus on one or two crops, often for export, historically reliant on slave or cheap labor.

Example: Banana plantations in Costa Rica.

Second Agricultural Revolution

A series of improvements in agriculture (17th-19th century), increasing productivity through mechanization and crop rotation.

Evidence: Use of mechanized plows and crop rotation in 18th-century Europe.

Subsistence Agriculture

Farming in which crops are grown primarily for the farmer's consumption rather than for sale.

Example: A family in rural Bangladesh growing food for their own consumption.

Truck Farming

Commercial gardening and fruit farming, so named because produce was once transported to market by trucks.

Example: Vegetable farming in Florida that supplies produce to East Coast U.S. cities.

Developed Country

A nation with a high standard of living, advanced infrastructure, and a strong, diversified economy.

Example: Germany, with high income and advanced infrastructure.

Developing Country

A country with a lower standard of living, less industrialization, and often struggling with poverty and infrastructure challenges.

Example: Ethiopia, with lower income and limited access to services.

Development

The process of improving the quality of life through economic growth, health, education, and infrastructure.

Example: South Korea's transformation from a low-income to high-income nation in the 20th century.

Fair Trade

A movement that aims to ensure producers in developing countries are paid fairly and work under ethical conditions.

Example: Fairtrade-certified coffee from cooperatives in Colombia.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of goods and services produced within a country's borders in a given time period.

Example: The U.S. has the highest GDP in the world, over $25 trillion.

Gross National Income (GNI)

Total income earned by a country's residents, including income from abroad.

Example: Ireland has a high GNI per capita, reflecting income from international businesses.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A composite measure of a country's average achievements in health (life expectancy), education, and income.

Example: Norway has one of the highest HDI scores, showing high life expectancy, education, and income.

Gender Development Index (GDI)

Compares HDI values between men and women to highlight gender disparities.

Example: Sweden ranks high, indicating gender parity in education and income.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

Measures gender disparities in reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation.

Example: Yemen ranks low due to limited female political and economic participation.

Literacy Rate

The percentage of people in a population who can read and write.

Example: Finland has a literacy rate close to 100%.

Primary Sector

The part of the economy focused on extracting natural resources (e.g., agriculture, fishing, mining).

Example: Fishing industry in Iceland.

Productivity

The efficiency of production, often measured as output per unit of input (like labor).

Secondary Sector

The portion of the economy concerned with manufacturing and industry.

Example: Automobile manufacturing in Germany.

Tertiary Sector

The sector of the economy that provides services (e.g., retail, education, healthcare).

Example: Tourism in Thailand.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A set of 17 global goals established by the United Nations to address issues like poverty, inequality, and environmental sustainability by 2030.

Example: Goal 2: Zero Hunger, aims to end world hunger by 2030.

Urbanization

The increasing concentration of people into cities, often associated with industrialization and economic growth.

Example: Rapid growth of Lagos, Nigeria, as people move from rural areas to the city.

Gentrification

A process that can occur when wealthier people move into lower-income neighborhoods, prompting cultural shifts, increases in prices, and the displacement of long-standing, lower-income residents

Example: Rising property values and displacement of low-income residents in Brooklyn, New York.

Example: Example: is meant to serve as giving more resources and enhancing the area to be better for people who have lower incomes, minoritie,s and instead is now too expensive for them to live there and is now better for higher income minorities

Displace

To compel people or animals to move out of the area where they live

Example: Refugees from Syria being displaced due to civil war.

Marginalize

Someone or group kept in a less powerful or unimportant position within a society or group

Example: Indigenous communities in the Amazon being excluded from political decision-making.

Revitalize

To make something active, healthy or energetic again

Example: Urban renewal projects in Detroit turning abandoned buildings into housing and businesses.

Agriculture

is the deliberate modification of the earth's surface through the cultivation of plants and the rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain. It involves growing crops or raising animals for either food or profit.

Example:

Desertification

Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting.

Subsistence Agricultural

Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family

Agricultural Hearths

The specific places to grow crops or raise livestock.

agricultural hearths examples

Maize - Mexico, Potatoes - Andes, Yams - West Africa , Wheat Middle East , Rice Southeast Asia

Latin America products

Cassava, Squash, Pepper, Potato, Alpaca, Cotton, Lima Bean, Llama, Maize, Sweet Potato.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sorghum, Yam, African Rice, Cowpea, Coffee

Mixed Crop and Livestock

Where crops and livestock benefit each other - corn and cattle. Crops and livestock on the same farm

disproportionate

Having or showing a difference that is not fair or expected

Gender equality

refers to the state in which individuals of all genders have equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities in all spheres of life. This includes:

gender inequality

the inequality between men and women in terms of wealth, income, status, and job opportunities

gentrification impacts positive

brought in green space, provided more of a safe area, and affordable housing

gentrification impacts negative

Ruins culture, reduces work opportunities for people of color, and Plantation Farming

Pastoral Agriculture

involves the breeding and herding of animals to satisfy the human needs for food, shelter, and clothing

Most important crops in Mediterranean are

Olives and Grapes

Subsistence farming

A farmer who produces only enough food for his family

Positives and negatives of Gentrification

Positive: brought in green space, provided more of a safe area, and affordable housing

Negative: Ruins culture, reduces work opportunities for people of color

Race

a way to categorize people based on skin color and other physical characteristics

Ethnicity

is an identity within a group of people who share cultural traditions of a particular homeland or hearth.

Nationality

is an identity within a group of people who share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular country

Colonization

Establishment of control over foreign territories.

Apartheid

A law where the White British and British empires created oppressive race-based rules against a Black African majority group

Ethnic Enclave

Ethnic groups may live in particular regions together [or communities within cities and states] or may be spread throughout the globe

Territorial

is how a state's shape, size, and relative location affects its governance and political situation

Sovereignty

The power a government has to own its territory. Example: North Korea

Legitimacy

Recognition of that power by other countries. Example: Palestine they are recognized by some but not all

State

A political unit with, A permanent population, An effective government, and a working economy. Ex: Switzerland because they have a stable economy due to the low inflation and a very officiant government which is democracy. Ex: Germany because there economy is well managed, low unemployment, low inflation rates

Nation

a large group of people who are united by a comment culture, characters, such as language and ethnicity, and shared history. Example: US because they have their flag in the flag they have 50 stars representing each state and have 13 rows because of the 13 colonies. Ex: Poland because they have their own language and they share traditions such as All Saints day

Multinational State

A state that includes more than one nation within its borders. Examples: Russian Federation and Canada

Nation-State

a state with primarily one nation within its borders. Example: Japan because 97.4% of people in Japan are Japanese which shows they have a shared culture. Ex: Iceland because they are largely ethnically homogenous, Iceland is the official language, and they have a stable, democratic government.

Stateless Nations

Has no territory of its own but whom it is implied should. Examples: Kurd's, Jewish people before 1948

Buffer States

Located between two larger conflicting countries. Examples: Mongolia, Eastern Europe

Shatterbelts

State or group of states that are influenced by other larger competing states. Example: South East Asia is between India and China ANother example is Iraq

Centripetal

forces / things that unify a state. Example: Unifying institutions

Centrifugal Forces

forces / things that fragment or tear a state apart. Example: Ethno-regionalism

Shapes of States

Fragmented, Elongated, Compact, Prorupted, Perforated

Fragmented

State that is broken into several pieces. Examples: Japan, Philippines, Hawaii

Elongated

Long and thin in shape, Can cause transportation problems. Most of the time elongated states are on the coastline. Examples: Chile, Italy, Gambia, Malawi

Compact

Relatively equal distance between its center and any point on its boundary. It is Ideal because every part feels connected.. Examples: Hungary, Poland, Uruguay, Lesotho

Prorupted

Has a piece that sticks out from it's core area. Examples: Thailand, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Namibia

Perforated

Has a hole in it, filled by another state. Examples: Lesotho, and Vatican City

Boundaries

are invisible lines that mark the extent of a territory

Border

is a political boundary that separates the territory and authority of states

Antecident

boundaries exist before any formal boundaries do. Ohio River existed, and the boundary of Ohio was established after

Superimposed

boundaries happen as a result of something and are made by outside orgs. United Nations 1947 partition of Palestine and Israel

Relict

boundaries cease to function but are still physically in place, left as part of the cultural landscape. Examples: Great wall of China, Berlin Wall

Difference between Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality

a division of people based on physical characteristics. a categorization based on language or common ancestry. refers to an identity within a group.