Lecture on Agriculture and Development

1. AGRICULTURE IN
DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES

2. Countries of the First World
 The term First World originally refers to the capitalist,
industrialized countries, within the Western European
and United States' sphere of influence, (e.g. member
states of the NATO).
 Nations with the most advanced economy, highest
standard of living, the most advanced technology, the
greatest influence in the world.
 The term could also mean: industrialized nations,
developed countries, rich countries or the civilized
world,
in contrast to the poor, under-developed un-civilized,
exploited nations of the so called Third World.
(http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world.htm#Poverty)

3. Countries of the World
First World: the United States and its allies
Second World: the Soviet Union and its allies
Third World: Non-aligned and neutral countries

4. List of First World Countries
NATO Member States
Belgium France Canada Denmark
France Germany Greece Netherlands
Italy Spain Norway Portugal
USA Turkey United Kingdom
US Allied
Israel Japan South Korea
Former British Colonies
Australia New Zealand
Neutral
Austria Switzerland Ireland Sweden

5. Countries of the Second World
 "Second World" refers
to the former communist-socialist,
industrial states,
(formerly the Eastern bloc,
the territory and sphere of
influence of the Union of
Soviet Socialists Republic)
today: Russia, Eastern
Europe (e.g., Poland) and
some of the Turk States
(e.g., Kazakhstan) as well
as China.

6. Countries of the Third World
 The term Third World was originally coined in
times of the Cold War to distinguish those
nations that are neither aligned with the West
(NATO) nor with the East, the Communist bloc.
 Today the term is often used to describe the
developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin
America and Oceania.
 Many poorer nations adopted the term to
describe themselves.

7. The world´s most impoverished
countries.
The least developed countries (LDCs) are a group of
countries that have been identified by the UN as "least
developed".
United Nations used the following three criteria for the
identification of the LDCs
1. a low-income estimate of the gross national income
(GNI)
per capita.
2. their weak human assets and
3. their high degree of economic vulnerability.
There are 50 countries listed in the United Nations
comparative analysis of poverty, 34 African countries, 10
Asian countries, 5 Pacific Island Nations and one
Caribbean nation.

8. Poverty in the Philippines
 87 million Filipinos
 65 million poor Filipinos
(80%) struggle to survive
on equivalent of P98
(US$2) or less each day
(2003)
 46 million Filipinos
hungry (by dietary
needs)
 Since 2000, average
family incomes have
dropped 10%
corresponds to
P60/person/day (US$1.20),
average family size of 6

9. Forced abroad: overseas
workers
 9-10 million overseas
Filipinos in 192 countries
Equivalent to ¼ of labor force
 Inc. temporary, irregular,
permanent
3,200 Filipinos leave every
day
$13-15 B in remittances
 five-fold increase from early
1980s
 Families separated +
discrimination, abuse
and violations of their
rights to decent wages
and working conditions

10. Key Characteristics of Agriculture in
a Developing Country
Low Labor
Productivity
 Labor productivity
(output per
worker or output
per hour of labor)
is quite low in
most developing
countries.

11.  To feed these
additional people will
require higher yields
on land already in
agriculture or more
agricultural land.

12.  There isn't enough land
that could be
economically converted
to agriculture. Hence
every available space is
utilized for agricultural
purposes.

13.  High cost of
agricultural
products and
large percentage
of income is spent
on food.
 The problem is not
mainly on the availability
of food but on the high
cost of food items.

14. Food's Share of Household
Expenditures Declines with
Economic Growth
 In general, as per capita income increases, the
percentage of a household's income spent on
food also declines.
 As households earn more income, they
choose to spend most of that additional
income on things other than food.

16. Small Family
Farms
 "Small" here means the
amount of land that can
be farmed by a family
without relying much on
hired labor – perhaps
only 2 hectares in many
areas of developing
countries but over 1000
hectares in many parts
of the U.S., Australia,
Canada and New
Zealand.

17. Limited
Commercialization
 Small farms in
developing countries
tend to produce
subsistence crops (for
home consumption)
instead of cash crops
(for sale on the market).

18.  They tend to be
much less
specialized in the
crops and livestock
products produced
than their
counterparts in
developed
countries.
 In brief, small
farmers in
developing
countries have
comparatively
limited involvement
in markets.

19. Selected Agricultural
Statistics

20. Agricultural Growth Is
Necessary for Economic
Growth
 Nearly every high-income
country has a highly
productive agricultural
sector, and agricultural
growth was in every case a
critical component of the
process of economic
growth.

21.  Productivity growth in
agriculture permits
workers to move out of
agriculture and into the
production of other
goods and services
without having too
much of an impact on
domestic agricultural
production.

22. Agriculture's Share of
the Economy Declines
with Economic
Growth.
 In general, as per capita
income increases,
production agriculture's
percentage of the labor
force declines.

23.  Agriculture's share
of gross domestic
product (GDP) also
declines. GDP is a
widely used
measure of
national income. Economic Dependence on Agriculture
Percent of gross domestic product
generated from the agricultural sector by
country income level, 2003

25. Yields of rice, wheat, and corn in the ten largest developing countries
in terms of population (China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam) and the three
largest developed countries (U.S., Japan, Germany).

26. What is Subsistence
Agriculture?
 Subsistence
agriculture—involves
food production mainly
for the family and local
community rather than
for market
 Farmers keep few if any
livestock, often relying
on hunting and fishing
for much of their food
supply

27.  Agriculture is the
primary and often only
source of income for
poor rural people, most
of whom depend on
subsistence farming
and fishing for their
livelihoods.

28.  In general, illiteracy,
unemployment and the
incidence of poverty are
higher among
indigenous peoples and
people living in the
upland areas.
 Overall, more than a
third of the people in the
Philippines live in
poverty.

29. Characteristics of Subsistence
Agriculture
 involves less-advanced technology;
 reliance on machinery and chemicals will not
be possible without a government support,
 draft animals (carabaos and horses) are used
as source of farm power and for transportation
 dependent on rainfall as water source
 involves more on growing of crops than
raising animals

30. Slash and Burn Agriculture
 Slash and burn
agriculture is the
process of cutting down
the vegetation in a
particular plot of land,
setting fire to the
remaining foliage, and
using the ashes to
provide nutrients to the
soil for use of planting
food crops (Stief, n.d.)

31. Steps done in slash and burn
agriculture
1. Prepare the field by cutting down
vegetation; plants that provide food or timber
may be left standing.
2. The downed vegetation is allowed to dry
until just before the rainiest part of the year to
ensure an effective burn.
3. The plot of land is burned to remove
vegetation, drive away pests, and provide a
burst of nutrients for planting.
4. Planting is done directly in the ashes left
after the burn.

32. Problems in Subsistence
Agriculture
 The practice of “slash and burn” farming leads
to forest clearings
 Planting in mountain slopes increases the risk
of erosion
 Fields may gradually lose the fertility they once
had
 Endangerment and extinction of biodiversity
may be magnified

33. Problems in Subsistence
Agriculture