Agricultural systems: types, inputs, outputs & factors
Why does one part of Namibia carry vast cattle ranches with only a handful of animals to the hectare, while another grows tightly packed irrigated crops beside a river, and a third grows nothing but hardy mahangu for the family pot? In this AS lesson we learn to see every farm as a system — inputs going in, processes doing the work, and outputs coming out. We weigh the opportunities and constraints of developing land for agriculture, then sort the physical factors (climate, relief, soil, water) and the human factors (capital, labour, market, technology, government) that shape a farmer's decisions. We compare intensive with extensive farming, set out how arable, pastoral and mixed systems differ in their inputs and outputs, and finally explain how population density, technology, transport, politics, culture and the physical environment decide which system a place ends up with — using real Namibian examples throughout: communal and commercial ranching, the Red Line, northern mahangu and Green Scheme irrigation.
By the end you should be able to (NSSCAS Geography (AS) 2.2a):
- describe opportunities and constraints to be considered when developing the land for agriculture
- identify the physical and human factors which influence decision making in creating different systems (intensive/extensive) of agriculture
- discuss how different types of agriculture (arable, pastoral and mixed) vary in terms of inputs and outputs
- explain how the following influence different agricultural systems: population density, technology, transport, politics and culture, physical environment