Cash Cropping in EthiopiaA case study example of commercial

farming

Starter

What is the correct definition of cash cropping?

a) A crop which is surplus to a farmer’s needs and is sold for cash.

b) A crop which is grown commercially for profit.

c) A crop which is sold for consumption rather than animal feed.

Learning objective:

• To understand what cash cropping is and what the impacts are on LEDCs.

Learning outcomes:

• To make case study notes on cash cropping in Ethiopia and it’s impacts, and to answer an exam question explaining how cash cropping can lead to food shortages in LEDCs.

Today and next lesson

In LEDCs, cash crops tend to be those which attract demand from MEDCs and have some export value, e.g. bananas, coffee, sugar cane and cotton.

What is cash cropping?

Cash cropping is another term for commercial agriculture, where crops are solely grown for profit.

In MEDCs, almost all crops are grown for cash.

Describe the distribution of cash crops.

Refer to regions and some specific countries in your answer.

Activity: Distribution of cash crops

Study Figure 6.14 on page 213 in your textbook.

It shows the most valuable type of agricultural production for each country.

Distribution of cash crops

Tropical and Sub-Tropical Areas:CoffeeCocoa

Sugar CaneBananas

Cooler Areas:Corn

WheatSoybean

Black Market Cash Crops:

PoppiesCannabis

Cash cropping in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee.

It is grown in Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR).

Activity: Coffee cash crops in Ethiopia

Annotate your map as we look at the production of coffee in Ethiopia.

Oromia produces 65% of the country’s coffee.

Coffee farms are located in mountainous, rainforest areas at altitudes of 1,500 to 2,000 meters.

95% of Ethiopia’s coffee is produced by small holder farmers on less than two hectares of land, while the remaining 5% is

grown on modern commercial farms.

Ethiopia’s coffee is almost exclusively of the ‘Arabica’ type.

15 million people directly or indirectly derive their livelihoods from coffee.

Coffee generates around 25% of Ethiopia’s total export earnings.

Activity: Advantages and disadvantages of growing crops for cash

Study the statements on the cards and decide if they are a positive or negative factor of cash crops.

Create a table or mind map to record the factors (advantages and disadvantages).

Learning objective:

• To understand what cash cropping is and what the impacts are on LEDCs.

Learning outcomes:

• To make case study notes on cash cropping in Ethiopia and it’s impacts, and to answer an exam question explaining how cash cropping can lead to food shortages in LEDCs.

This lesson…

Activity: Ethiopia’s coffee crisis

Watch the following clip ‘Coffee crisis in Ethiopia’.

What is the crisis being referred to?

What was the coffee crisis?

• Price set by four or five TNCs. There is no organisation to regulate prices or protect farmers.

• Farmers make such a small amount of profit that they cannot survive.

• In Ethiopia, 1.2 million families rely on growing coffee as their only source of income.

• Farmers cannot switch to food crops as farms are too small, land is too poor, and it would take too much time and money.

The result is starving

communities and food

shortages.

People are not growing

food and cannot afford to buy food.

Causes of ‘coffee crisis’ was supply exceeding demand (by 8% globally) and rise in supply of low quality coffee.

Activity: News report

Read the news article on coffee production in Ethiopia and answer the questions.