Theory question 106
Basic Agricultural Economics(a) Explain briefly each of the following basic economic concepts: (i) scarcity; (ii) scale of preference.
(b) Give four reasons why agricultural insurance is important.
(c) State five fishery regulations in West Africa.
(d) Give five reasons why beekeeping is important.
Show the model answer
(a)(i) Scarcity: resources (land, labour, capital) are limited compared with the unlimited wants they must satisfy.
(ii) Scale of preference: a list of wants arranged in order of importance, so the most pressing are satisfied first with the limited resources.
(b) Any four: compensates farmers for losses; encourages farmers to invest and adopt new ideas; makes it easier to get loans (security for lenders); reduces risk and uncertainty; keeps farmers in business after disasters; encourages large-scale farming.
(c) Any five: minimum mesh size of nets; ban on fishing with poison, chemicals and explosives; closed seasons/areas for breeding; licensing of fishermen and boats; minimum size of fish that may be caught; ban on catching fingerlings/brood stock; control of pollution of waters; limits on foreign trawlers in territorial waters.
(d) Any five: honey for food and sale; beeswax for candles, polish and cosmetics; pollination of crops; income/employment; medicinal products (propolis, royal jelly, venom); needs little land and capital; raw material for industries.
Two lines for each economic term in (a).