Small-Scale Economic Systems
All economic activity takes place within aneconomic system
Earliest economic systems were markedby:
•Reliance on subsistence food gathering oragriculture
•Most activities took place within small groups
•Small-scale production
•Extensive use of bartering
Small-Scale Economic Systems
In prehistoric times, humans were hunters andgatherers
The Neolithic period (“New Stone Age”) beganthe transition to primitive agriculture
•Gradual process beginning about 11,000 years ago
•Primitive agriculture was subsistence-based
•Any surpluses would likely be bartered
•Surpluses led to occupational specialization
•In other words, people provided services in exchangefor food
Where Did Agriculture Originate?
Invention of Agriculture
Prior to the advent of agriculture, all humansprobably obtained needed food through huntingand gathering.
Origins of agriculture cannot be documented withcertainty, because it began before recordedhistory.
Agriculture is deliberate modification of Earth’ssurface through cultivation of plants and rearingof animals to obtain sustenance or economicgain.
Where Did Agriculture Originate?
Agricultural Revolution
The time when humans first domesticated plants and animals andno longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering was known asthe agricultural revolution.
Agriculture originated in multiple hearths around the world:
Crop Hearths:
Southwest Asia:
Early crops: barley, wheat, lentil, and olive.
East Asia:
Early crops: Rice and millet.
Sub-Saharan Africa:
Early crops: Sorghum, yams, millet, and rice.
Latin America:
Early crops: Beans, cotton, potato, and most importantlymaize (corn).
Agriculture originated in multiple hearths.
Domestication of some crops can be dated back more than10,000 years.
Where Did Agriculture Originate?
Agricultural Revolution
Agriculture originated in multiple hearthsaround the world cont’d:
Animal Hearths:
Southwest Asia:
May have been first to integrate cultivation of cropswith domestication of herd animals by using themto prepare the land, and, in turn, were fed part ofthe harvested crop.
Early domesticated animals: Cattle, goats, pigs,sheep, and dogs.
Central Asia:
Early domesticated animals: Horses
Where Did Agriculture Originate?
Comparing Subsistence and CommercialAgriculture
Subsistence agriculture is the production of foodprimarily for consumption by the farmer’s family.
Practiced primarily in developing countries
Commercial agriculture is the production of foodprimarily for sale off the farm.
Practiced primarily in developed countries.
Features that distinguish itself from subsistenceagriculture include: lower percentage of farmers inlabor force, highly mechanized, and larger farmsize.
Where Did Agriculture Originate?
Comparing Subsistence and CommercialAgriculture
Percentage of farmers in the labor force:
Developed countries: 5%
Developing countries: 44%
Use of Machinery:
Small number of commercial farmers can workrelatively more land because of farmingequipment.
Farm size:
Avg. Commercial: 418 acres in the U.S.
Avg. Subsistence: 2.5 acres in China
The percentage of the workforce engaged in agriculture ishigher in developing countries than in developed countries.
Farmers in developing countries have more hectares or acresof land per tractor than do farmers in developed countries.The machinery makes it possible for commercial farmers tofarm extensive areas, a practice necessary to pay for theexpensive machinery.
The average size of a family farm in China is much smallerthan in the United States.
(left) Family farm in Anhui Province, China.
(right) Family farm in West Brooklyn, Illinois.
Why Do People Consume DifferentFoods?
Diet
Dietary energy consumption is the amount offood that an individual consumes.
Consumption of food varies around the world,both in total amount and source of nutrients, fortwo reasons.
1.Level of development
2.Physical conditions
DIETARY ENERGY BY SOURCE
Wheat, rice, and maize are the three main sources ofkilocalories.
Why Do People Consume DifferentFoods?
Source of Nutrients
Developed and developing regionstypically differ most in their primarysources of protein consumed.
Developed Countries
Leading source of protein is meat products.
Beef
Pork
Poultry
Developing Countries
Leading source of protein is cereal grains.
People get most of their protein from meat in developedcountries and from cereals in developing countries.
The percentage of protein from meat is much higher forpeople in developed countries than for those in developingcountries.
Why Do People Consume DifferentFoods?
Nutrition and Hunger
Undernourishment is dietary energyconsumption that is continuously below theminimum requirement for maintaining a healthylife and carrying out light physical activity.
UN estimates 850 million people in world areundernourished.
99% located in developing countries
Worldwide, the total number ofundernourished people has not changedmuch in several decades.
More than half ofthe world’sundernourishedpeople are inSouth Asia andEast Asia.
Less than 5 percent of the population is undernourished indeveloped countries compared to 15 percent in developingcountries.
South Asia has seen thelargest increase in number ofundernourished people.