Agricultural Economics and Commodity Trade

Refrigeration and Red Boxes

• Refrigeration is used to preserve perishable goods until transport.
• A refrigerator ship is a vessel designed to store frozen goods.

Mediterranean Climate and Goods

• The Mediterranean climate is found in specific locations (California, Oregon, Chile, South Africa, Australia).
• This climate supports a variety of crops: grapes, olives, citrus fruits, figs, vegetables, dates, etc.
• These crops are often exported and command high prices.

Colonial Impact on Economies

• Colonialism shifted some economies away from subsistence agriculture.
• Examples include the Caribbean, which now relies on sugar production.
• Colonial legacies include plantations that produce cash crops.

Commodity Cartels (1970s)

• Countries formed cartels to control commodity prices, primarily oil.

Plantations and Cash Crops

• Plantations are large estates that grow cash crops.
• Cash crops, like bananas, sugar, coffee, and cocoa, are important for periphery/semi-periphery countries.

Supranational Organizations and Core Countries

• Supranational organizations often influence the commodity prices.
• This can negatively impact developing nations that rely on those commodities.

Multinational Corporations and Plantations

• Multinational corporations (MNCs) often intensely protect economic interests in plantations
• This is shown by the case of the United Fruit Company's involvement in Guatemalan affairs.

Guatemalan Agrarian Reform

• The Guatemalan government tried to redistribute land to landless individuals.
• The United Fruit Company, an American firm, strongly opposed this land redistribution program.
• The plan was impacted by the intervention of the U.S.

Coffee Production

• Coffee is largely produced in Central and South America.
• High production is often in countries with outside the tropics.
• Cost often associated with production costs in these locations

Marijuana Production

• Marijuana production costs in the US are estimated around $5 billion annually.
• Growers avoid detection of this crop by planting on public land to avoid traceability
• Costs to grow outside of controlled environments are substantially lower allowing it to be produced outside of controlled climates

Crop Farming and Agriculture

• Mixed agriculture and commercial grain farming are common in certain areas (e.g., certain parts of the U.S., Canada and other mid latitudes.)
• Livestock ranching practices spread (e.g. U.S.A, Canada)
• This is a way of farming that involves raising domesticated animals.

Subsistence Farming

• Subsistence farming includes three main types: subsistence crop and livestock farming, intensively subsistence farming/rice, and intensively subsistence farming/other crops.

Mediterranean Climate Crops

• Mediterranean climates support specific combinations of crops: Grapes, olives, citrus fruits, figs, vegetables, dates and others.
• Specific crops grown include fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

Illegal Drugs (Cocaine)

• The cultivation and production of Cocaine occurs in specific locations (e.g., Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia.)
• Columbia is a large producer of Cocaine.

Opium Production

• Opium production increased after the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Fair Trade

• "Fair trade" certified products aim to raise incomes of producers and reduce actors in the supply chain.
• Consumers spent over $6.5 billion on fair-trade products.

Other Details

• US government subsidies for larger-scale farmers.
• Coffee is an important agricultural commodity impacting countries worldwide
• Rice is imported cheaply from certain countries.