IGCSE Geography: Food Topic Summary Notes
Contents
IGCSE Geography: Food (Agriculture) — Summary Notes
1. Farming as a System
2. Factors Affecting Farming Type
Physical Factors
Human Factors
3. Classifying Farming Systems
4. Case Study: Shifting Cultivation (Subsistence, e.g. Amazon Rainforest)
5. Case Study: Intensive Subsistence Rice Farming (e.g. Ganges Valley, India /
Bangladesh)
6. Case Study: Large-Scale Commercial Arable Farming (e.g. Prairies, Canada/USA or
Paris Basin)
7. Case Study: Commercial Livestock Rearing / Ranching (e.g. Argentina, Australia, USA)
8. Plantation Agriculture (e.g. palm oil in Malaysia, tea in Kenya, bananas in the
Caribbean)
9. Food Shortages and Food Security
Causes of Food Shortages
Consequences of Food Shortages
10. Ways of Increasing Food Supply
11. Environmental Impacts of Farming
12. Key Terms Glossary
Quick Revision Checklist
IGCSE Geography: Food (Agriculture) —
Summary Notes
1. Farming as a System
Agriculture is a system with inputs, processes, and outputs.
Component Examples
Inputs Physical: climate, relief, soil, water. Human: labour,
capital, machinery, seeds, fertiliser, technology
Processes Ploughing, planting, weeding, irrigating, harvesting,
herding
Outputs Crops, livestock, milk, wool — and waste products
Farms are also affected by feedback — e.g. profits are reinvested (positive feedback) or a bad harvest
, reduces future investment (negative feedback).
2. Factors Affecting Farming Type
Physical Factors
Climate: temperature, rainfall amount/reliability, growing season length
Relief: altitude, slope (steep land unsuitable for arable/machinery)
Soil: depth, fertility, drainage, pH
Water supply: rivers, groundwater, irrigation potential
Human Factors
Labour: availability and cost
Capital: money for machinery, seeds, fertiliser
Markets: distance to market, demand for produce
Transport: roads/rail affecting access to markets
Government policy: subsidies, quotas, land reform
Technology: machinery, GM seeds, irrigation systems
Land tenure: ownership, farm size, inheritance patterns
3. Classifying Farming Systems
Basis Types
Purpose Subsistence (for own consumption) vs Commercial
(for sale/profit)
Product Arable (crops), Pastoral (animals), Mixed (both)
Input intensity Intensive (high inputs, small land area) vs Extensive
(low inputs, large land area)
Land use pattern Sedentary (fixed location) vs Nomadic/Shifting
(moves periodically)
4. Case Study: Shifting Cultivation (Subsistence, e.g. Amazon
Rainforest)
Small plots cleared by “slash and burn”
Crops grown for 2–3 years until soil fertility declines (thin, leached tropical soils)
Farmers move to a new plot, allowing old land to lie fallow and regenerate
Low inputs, low technology, low yields but sustainable at low population densities
Pressure from population growth/logging reduces fallow periods → soil exhaustion
5. Case Study: Intensive Subsistence Rice Farming
(e.g. Ganges Valley, India / Bangladesh)
High population density → small plots, high labour input, low mechanisation
Physical factors: flat land, fertile alluvial soil, high temperatures (>21°C), heavy monsoon rainfall
(>200 cm), long growing season
Contents
IGCSE Geography: Food (Agriculture) — Summary Notes
1. Farming as a System
2. Factors Affecting Farming Type
Physical Factors
Human Factors
3. Classifying Farming Systems
4. Case Study: Shifting Cultivation (Subsistence, e.g. Amazon Rainforest)
5. Case Study: Intensive Subsistence Rice Farming (e.g. Ganges Valley, India /
Bangladesh)
6. Case Study: Large-Scale Commercial Arable Farming (e.g. Prairies, Canada/USA or
Paris Basin)
7. Case Study: Commercial Livestock Rearing / Ranching (e.g. Argentina, Australia, USA)
8. Plantation Agriculture (e.g. palm oil in Malaysia, tea in Kenya, bananas in the
Caribbean)
9. Food Shortages and Food Security
Causes of Food Shortages
Consequences of Food Shortages
10. Ways of Increasing Food Supply
11. Environmental Impacts of Farming
12. Key Terms Glossary
Quick Revision Checklist
IGCSE Geography: Food (Agriculture) —
Summary Notes
1. Farming as a System
Agriculture is a system with inputs, processes, and outputs.
Component Examples
Inputs Physical: climate, relief, soil, water. Human: labour,
capital, machinery, seeds, fertiliser, technology
Processes Ploughing, planting, weeding, irrigating, harvesting,
herding
Outputs Crops, livestock, milk, wool — and waste products
Farms are also affected by feedback — e.g. profits are reinvested (positive feedback) or a bad harvest
, reduces future investment (negative feedback).
2. Factors Affecting Farming Type
Physical Factors
Climate: temperature, rainfall amount/reliability, growing season length
Relief: altitude, slope (steep land unsuitable for arable/machinery)
Soil: depth, fertility, drainage, pH
Water supply: rivers, groundwater, irrigation potential
Human Factors
Labour: availability and cost
Capital: money for machinery, seeds, fertiliser
Markets: distance to market, demand for produce
Transport: roads/rail affecting access to markets
Government policy: subsidies, quotas, land reform
Technology: machinery, GM seeds, irrigation systems
Land tenure: ownership, farm size, inheritance patterns
3. Classifying Farming Systems
Basis Types
Purpose Subsistence (for own consumption) vs Commercial
(for sale/profit)
Product Arable (crops), Pastoral (animals), Mixed (both)
Input intensity Intensive (high inputs, small land area) vs Extensive
(low inputs, large land area)
Land use pattern Sedentary (fixed location) vs Nomadic/Shifting
(moves periodically)
4. Case Study: Shifting Cultivation (Subsistence, e.g. Amazon
Rainforest)
Small plots cleared by “slash and burn”
Crops grown for 2–3 years until soil fertility declines (thin, leached tropical soils)
Farmers move to a new plot, allowing old land to lie fallow and regenerate
Low inputs, low technology, low yields but sustainable at low population densities
Pressure from population growth/logging reduces fallow periods → soil exhaustion
5. Case Study: Intensive Subsistence Rice Farming
(e.g. Ganges Valley, India / Bangladesh)
High population density → small plots, high labour input, low mechanisation
Physical factors: flat land, fertile alluvial soil, high temperatures (>21°C), heavy monsoon rainfall
(>200 cm), long growing season
