The World of Agricultural Economics

An Introduction

Carin Martiin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780415593601
• eBook ISBN: 9781135069018
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Agribusiness
• Index: Business

This textbook takes a truly international approach towards agricultural economics, uniting many different perspectives on the subject and providing insight into agriculture in general, and into how practical farming works in particular. The book is laced throughout with real world examples and other pedagogical features.

Topics covered are wide-ranging and include:

• world food production and population
• the food chain and food safety
• non-foods derived from farming
• land and soil issues
• arable and animal production and management at farm level.

The World of Agricultural Economics: an introduction is primarily an introductory textbook for students in agricultural economics, agronomy and adjacent fields. However, its accessible approach means that it is also suitable for readers without any previous knowledge in the field, who are seeking an introduction to agriculture.

Part I

Ways into agriculture

1 Agricultural economics, common ground

What is agricultural economics? And what is farming? We will answer the first question later, but give a brief answer to the latter question by saying that farming is an organized way to produce food, fibre, bio-energy and other non-foods by cultivation or grazing.

This short opening chapter deals with definitions of a few central terms that you have to grasp completely to be able to follow the reasoning in the following chapters. We will, among other things, discuss how the basic terms ‘agricultural economics’, ‘farming’ and ‘farmer’ are used in this book. You probably already have an idea about these terms, but as definitions differ with disciplines, authors and individual readers, it is wise to start with a key vocabulary that can serve as a common ground for the following chapters.

After this chapter you are expected to:

º Know the terms agricultural economics, farming and farmer, as defined in this chapter

º Be familiar with the meaning of farm work, farm, farm household and farm family, as discussed in this chapter

Key words

Agricultural economics, farming, farm work, farmer, farm, farm household, farm family, agriculture.

Agricultural economics

The term agricultural economics is part of the book title. We will deal with the subject matter in a broad sense, in line with the widening of the field in recent decades. In 2011 the US based Agricultural and Applied Economics Association described its field of interest as being about ‘the economics of agriculture, international and rural development, resources and the environment, food and consumer issues, and agribusiness’ (http://www.aaea.org, accessed 17 June 2011).

Box 1.1 Topics within the field of agricultural economics, some examples

•Production economics in agriculture

•Methods of production in farming

•Agricultural marketing and trade

•Environment and natural resources in agriculture

•Supply and demand for agricultural products

•Food security and food safety

•Rural development

This understanding of agricultural economics differs from the original view from the early twentieth century, which focused on farm management and production technologies. Likewise the wide and interdisciplinary approach deviates from more specific studies in agricultural economics, such as econometrics. Box 1.1 gives some examples of topics within the wide field of agricultural economics.

You will find the examples in Box 1.1, and many others, in the following chapters. Some deal specifically with a certain topic, for example food safety, which is discussed in Chapter 21, whereas, for instance, environmental issues are interwoven in many chapters.

If we turn from a general understanding of the field of agricultural economics to a specific definition of the term agricultural economics, we find that it is slightly differently defined by various authors but that key terms such as production, resources, decisions and distribution are frequently included. In this book, with its introductory and interdisciplinary approach, the term agricultural economics is defined as follows:

Agricultural economics deals with how we organize and use resources for farm production of food, fibre, bio-energy and other non-foods; how the products are distributed, handled and consumed; and with the local and global impact this has on living conditions, societies, environment and economies.

Practical farming is an essential and basic part of agricultural economics, and is given substantial space and attention in this book, especially in Part IV, and serves as point of reference for much of the reasoning, albeit in a wide context that includes socioeconomic and environmental concerns. We will thus pay special attention to the terms farming, farmer and related words — speaking about farming is not as easy as just saying that farming takes place on farms that are run by farmers.

Farming

It is no exaggeration to say that farming and farm products constitute the pure essence of the world of agricultural economics. You read a short explanation of the term farming at the beginning of this chapter. An extended version of that definition says that

Farming can be defined as an organized way to grow crops and rear animals in order to provide food, fibre, bio-energy and other non-foods through cultivation or grazing, stationary or not, with the purpose of selling the products, or using them in kind.

Our definition of farming includes all kinds of arable and animal farming everywhere, in each corner of the world, irrespective of location, aims of production, methods of production, economy and society. It refers to all kinds of outdoor crop cultivation, plus greenhouse cultivation, and to stationary and nomadic forms of animal husbandry. We will not exclude fish farming, which for instance is important for many Asian farmers, but we will not examine fish farming as such.

Farm work

We will also apply a wide definition of farm work. Farming activities include all kinds of farm work that is conducted with or without the help of machinery and equipment, such as tractor driving, control of automatic milking, field inspections, machine and equipment repairs, digging ditches, mending fences, carrying feed and water for farm animals, making budgets and discussion with agricultural advisers.

Farmer

You will frequently come across the term farmer all through this book. A farmer is often thought of as a person who works at and leads the work at a farm holding, while others involved are considered as family members, employees, etc. We will, however, apply a wider definition that includes all categories of people who are engaged in farm work. This simplification makes it possible to discuss farm work without becoming entangled in the impossible undertaking of distinguishing exactly who does what; at a particular farm or in farming in general. The same kind of job, feeding pigs for example, may in one case be done by a landowning farmer, in another case by a farmhand and in a third case by a child. Only the first one, however, probably calls him/herself ‘farmer’.

The simplification to one single term, farmer, does not mean that we will overlook the diversity of categories that are engaged in real farming. On the contrary, the inclusion of many categories in one term means that we perceive farm work as conducted by a wide range of people of different age, sex and position. It should be emphasized that the term farmer includes both men and women. Women's work in agriculture is decisive all over the world and they form a majority of the agricultural labour force, especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Bringing together all categories of labour in one term, farmer, does, however, require that you, as a reader, are continuously aware of the wide meaning all through the book (see Box 1.2).

Box 1.2 Some categories that are included in the term farmer as it is used in this book . (It is possible to belong to more than one category)

•Full-time farmers

•Part-time farmers

•Landowners who operate their land actively

•Leaseholders

•Pastoral nomads

•Poor smallholders

•Households with backyard farming, with or without access to land

•Year-round farmhands

•Casual farmhands with farming as a major source of income

•Farming men, women and children

Although the inclusion of categories is generous, some are, however, excluded from being called farmers. Hired-in specialists, such as veterinarians, sheep shearers and economic consultants, are not farmers, and the same is true of staff from machinery stations, and other people who work at a particular farm unit for a very short period of time and then take on other kinds of jobs. Neither is it relevant to include investors, whose primary aim is to invest in agriculture rather than produce. As this book has a utility perspective, it would be relevant to exclude hobby farmers too, but it is not easy to distinguish between farming as livelihood and the plethora of intermediate forms that are found between professional and hobby farming. By now we have reached a definition of the term farmer, as understood in this book:

Farmers are here defined as men and women of all ages who, for utility purposes, are directly involved in practical farming, as defined above.

Farm

The term farm is perhaps the most complex of the basic terms that are discussed in this introductory chapter. You may have a picture of what a farm looks like, maybe a few fields and some houses that are situated in the countryside. You may consider a farm as a physically and legally defined unit that is delineated from other farms and possible to identify on a map. The reality is, however, more complicated than that. Even when there is a delineated farm unit this may not be the same as the operational unit. The operational farm unit can be bigger or smaller, and organized in various ways, for example because of collaboration, or because a physical unit is split up in one way or another. Farming is also operated on the basis of customary rights, without specified delimitations. You will read more about land rights in Chapter 9 and about organization of farming in Chapters 10, 17 and 18. As our main focus is on production, we will generally consider a farm as an operational unit, which sometimes is the same as the physically delineated farm, sometimes not.

Farm households and farm families

A few words should also be said about the terms farm household and farm family, which are important as points of reference in some agricultural economies. The two are sometimes, but far from always, identical. Farm households and farm families may overlap, for example at so-called family farms in Western Europe and North America. You also find farm households with extended families; and households with both family members and employees. At big farm units many separate households can be found, such as camps for casual farm hands. Another example is when employees live in separate households at some distance from the farm. You will find both farm households and farm families in the following chapters, with the former term used most often.

Agriculture

Finally, it should be said that the word agriculture will be used more generally. Agriculture covers a wider field than farming, but is narrower than agricultural economics. We will use the term agriculture freely, in line with common language, for example in formulations such as agricultural production, agricultural sectors and agricultural politics.

Summary

This chapter introduces some basic terms that a...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Series page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Boxes
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Part I Ways into agriculture
• Part II World agriculture
• Part III In need of land and soil
• Part IV The many faces of farming
• Part V Managing the farm and the market
• Bibliography
• Index