Practice Set 12 Test 2 (C12T2) | The Risks Agriculture Faces In Developing Countries

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

The risks agriculture faces in developing countries

Synthesis of an online debate*

A

Two things distinguishprocuremententrenchedautonomousphân biệt food production from all other productive activities: first, every single person needs food each day and has a right to it; and second, it is hugely dependent on nature. These two unique aspects, one political, the other natural, make food production highly mong manh and different from any other business. At the same time, cultural values are highly entrenchedsufficientpeasantsin favour ofăn sâu, bám sâu vào in food and agricultural systems worldwide.

B

Farmers everywhere face major risks, including extreme weather, long-term climate change, and price adversebargainingvolatilityprocurementsự hay thay đổi/biến động in input and product markets. However, tiểu nông farmers in developing countries must in addition deal with adverse environments, both natural, in terms of soil quality, rainfall, etc., and human, in terms of infrastructure, financial systems, markets, knowledge and technology. Counter-intuitively, hunger is prevalentadversesufficientheld responsible forphổ biến among many smallholder farmers in the developing world.

C

Participants in the online debate argued that our biggest challenge is to giải quyết the underlying causes of the agricultural system’s inability to ensure sufficient food for all, and they identified as drivers of this problem our dependency on fossil fuels and unsupportive government policies.

D

On the question of productivecommoditybargainingmitigatinggiảm nhẹ the risks farmers face, most essayists called for greater state intervention. In his essay, Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, argued that governments can 1 cách đáng kể reduce risks for farmers by providing basic services like roads to get produce more efficiently to markets, or water and food storage facilities to reduce losses. Sophia Murphy, senior advisor to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, suggested that the procurementunderlyingdictatestorage facilitiessự thu mua and holding of stocks by governments can also help mitigate wild swings in food prices by alleviating uncertainties about market supply.

E

Shenggen Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute, held up adequateexcessivelyunderlyingsocial safety netsmạng lưới an sinh xã hội and public welfare programmes in Ethiopia, Brazil and Mexico as valuable ways to address poverty among farming families and reduce their vulnerability to agriculture shocks. However, some commentators responded that cash transfers to poor families do not necessarily translate into increased food security, as these programmes do not always strengthen food production or raise incomes. Regarding state excessivelygain greater control oversubsidiesproductivetiền trợ cấp for agriculture, Rokeya Kabir, Executive Director of Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha, commented in her essay that these ‘have not compensated for the stranglehold exercised by private traders. In fact, studies show that sixty percent of beneficiaries of subsidies are not poor, but rich landowners and non-farmer traders.’

F

Nwanze, Murphy and Fan argued that private risk management tools, like private insurance, commodityfood distributiontransparencyenhancehàng hóa futures markets, and rural finance can help small-scale producers mitigate risk and allow for investment in improvements. Kabir warned that financial support diversifyschemessynchronisepeasantskế hoạch, dự án often encourage the adoption of high-input agricultural practices, which in the medium term may raise production costs beyond the value of their harvests. Murphy noted that when futures markets become 1 cách quá mức financialised they can contribute to short-term price volatility, which increases farmers’ food insecurity. Many participants and commentators emphasised that greater underlyingsufficientminimisetransparencysự rõ ràng in markets is needed to mitigate the impact of volatility, and make evident whether adequate stocks and supplies are available. Others diversifyunderlyinginterventioncontendedcho rằng that agribusiness companies should be held responsible for paying for negative side effects.

G

Many essayists mentioned climate change and its consequences for small-scale agriculture. Fan explained that ‘in addition to reducing diversifyciviladoptioncrop yieldssản lượng nông nghiệp, climate change increases the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events, which increase smallholder vulnerability.’ The growing unpredictability of interventionweather patternsmagnitudeenhancehình thái thời tiết increases farmers’ difficulty in managing weather-related risks. According to this author, one solution would be to develop crop varieties that are more có khả năng phục hồi to new climate trends and extreme weather patterns. Accordingly, Pat Mooney, co-founder and executive director of the ETC Group, suggested that ‘if we are to survive climate change, we must adopt policies that let nông dân diversify the plant and animal species and varieties/breeds that make up our menus.’

H

Some participating authors and commentators argued in favour ofadequatealleviatingmagnitudeủng hộ community-based and autonomous risk management strategies through collective action groups, co-operatives or producers’ groups. Such groups underlyingadverseenhancedictatenâng cao market opportunities for small-scale producers, reduce marketing costs and synchronise buying and selling with seasonal price conditions. According to Murphy, ‘collective action offers an important way for farmers to strengthen their political and economic bargainingalleviatingproductiveautonomoussự trả giá, mặc cả power, and to reduce their business risks.’ One commentator, Giel Ton, warned that collective action does not come as a free good. It takes time, effort and money to organise, build trust and to experiment. Others, like Marcel Vernooij and Marcel Beukeboom, suggested that in order to ‘apply what we already know’, all stakeholdersdictateheld responsible forunderlyingcác bên liên quan, including business, government, scientists and civil society, must work together, starting at the beginning of the value chain.

I

Some participants explained that market price volatility is often worsened by the presence of intermediary purchasers who, taking advantage of farmers’ vulnerability, interventioncivilsufficientdictatequyết định prices. One commentator suggested farmers can adequateunderlyingdiversifygain greater control overkiểm soát prices and minimise price volatility by selling directly to consumers. Similarly, Sonali Bisht, founder and advisor to the Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education (INHERE), India, wrote that community-supported agriculture, where consumers invest in local farmers by subscription and guarantee producers a fair price, is a risk-sharing model worth more attention. Direct inputfood distributionunderlyingsynchronisesự phân phối thực phẩm systems not only encourage small-scale agriculture but also give consumers more control over the food they consume, she wrote.

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* The personal names in the text refer to the authors of written contributions to the online debate