AGRARIAN REVOLUTION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

AGRARIAN REVOLUTION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. a) State three factors which contributed to the development of

agriculture in ancient Egypt.

i) Availability of water for irrigation/presence of flood water. ii) Existence of good soils deposited by the Nile during annual floods.

1. Foreign influence from South West Asia where crop farming was

   first practiced.

2. Invention and use of farming tools/ploughs/iron tools.
3. Favourable topographic factors enabled Egyptians to use canal

   irrigation. vi) Invention of the shadoof and other methods of

irrigation by the

 Egyptians. vii) Contribution of the Egyptian rulers eg.

Menes who dominated the

Nile.

viii) Storage tanks and knowledge of weather forecast.

b) Explain six factors which have led to inadequate food supply in

Africa.

 i. Rapid population growth has put a lot of pressure on the available

food resources, leading to shortages. ii. Poor transport network has led to uneven distribution of food

supplies in some African countries,

 iii. Poor and inadequate storage facilities have led to wastage of a lot

of food. iv. Most African countries lack adequate capital for agriculture development/financial problems,

v. Poor farming methods have led to low agricultural yields, vi. The eating habits have created artificial food shortages in Africa as some people prefer certain types of the drought resistance crops.

vii. Political stability in some African countries has undermined food production due to insecurity, viii. Infertile soils.

1. Conservative attitude of Africans in adopting modern farming methods.
2. Decline in growing of the drought resistance crops.
3. Poor economic planning/no motivation to farmers/poor marketing

   facilities.

4. Low income/poverty
5. Land tenure systems in some African countries.
6. Food production has been affected by rural – urban migration, which has created shortage of labour in the agricultural sectors. xv. Overdependence on donations and foreign aid has made it difficult for African countries to find solutions to their problems of food shortage/importation, xvi. Over – emphasis of cash crops has led to the decline of food production,

   xvii. Destructive human activities such as cutting down of trees have turned productive land into wasteland thus leading to low food production.

2. a) State three agricultural practices used in Europe before the Agrarian

Revolution.

1. Small- scale farming
2. Shifting agriculture / cultivation
3. Subsistence farming / peasant farming
4. The use of simple agricultural implements e.g. hoes, sticks

b) Explain the impact of the Agrarian revolution in Europe

1. The use of new and improved farming methods led to the high

   yields, leading to the security.

2. Introduction of new crops such as wheat, beans and maize, turnips,

   clove led to the diversification of agriculture.

3. Establishment of large – scale farms and plantations farming

   replaced subsistence farming,

4. Agricultural research finding led to the development of exotic

   livestock breeds and better quality crops.

5. Production of sufficient food led to improved standards of living

   and high life expectancy,

6. Abundance of food led to increase in population, vii) Mechanization of farming methods led to the redundancy of manual worker/unemployment viii) Establishment of large farms encouraged the rich landlords to buy

   off poor farmers’ land – thus creating a class of landless people/some became hired labourers on the farms,

7. Displacement of the poor led to rural – urban migration.
8. The price of land went up.
9. Provided industries with raw materials eg. wool and labour which

   led to growth of industries.

10. Those who could migrate to abroad eg. Canada, USA, South Asia

    Stages,

11. Improvement of transport network e.g. roads, railways etc
    
12. Led to expansion of trade.

3. a) State three factors which contributed to the development of early

agriculture in Mesopotamia.

1. Availability of indigenous crops e.g. barely, wheat, grapes and

   onions/animals e.g. sheep, goats, pigs, cattle etc

2. Existence of fertile land along rivers Tigris and Euphrates.
3. Availability of water for irrigation/presence of rivers Tigris and

   Euphrates. iv) Invention of farming tools such as hoes,

ploughs, sickles and seed

drill.

1. Existence of transport system in form of donkeys, canoes, river

   transport.

2. Availability of slave labourers.
3. Settlement of Sumerians people who had that knowledge of agriculture from Iranian

   plateau (from outside Persia).

4. Demand for food to fed the growing populations/increase in population. ix) Political stability which enabled the people to practice agriculture.

 x) Construction of dykes to control floods.

b) What was the result of the development of early agriculture in

Mesopotamia.

i) The development of early agriculture in Mesopotamia led to the production of enough food for the population, ii) The production of food enabled people to establish permanent settlements/people became sedentary.

iii) Places where people met to exchange food surpluses developed into urban centres, iv) Food production allowed some people time to engage in other productive trades eg. Basket weaving. This led to job specialization/social classes/stratification,

v) Surplus agricultural products led to the development of trade between communities, vi) Food production led to an increase in population, vii) Settled life led to the development of a centralized system of government to cater for the protection of the people and their property, viii) Need to transport agricultural products led to invention of the wheel.

The wheel was used to transport grains to markets and stores.

1. Promoted religion
2. Need to keep records on agricultural activities led to the development

   of writing.

3. The standards of living were improved.

1. Name two main cash crops that were grown in North America during the

   Agrarian Revolution.

   1. Tobacco
   2. Cotton. iii) Corn/maize iv) Wheat
2. Identify two factors which favoured the development of crop growing in ancient Egypt.
   1. Availability of reliable sources of water.
   2. Existence of indigenous type of grains e.g. barley, wheat iii)

      Existence of fertile Soils along river Nile.

   3. The invention and use of the Shadoof for irrigation and other farm implements.
   4. Existence of a stable government under Pharaoh.
   5. Availability of labour. vii) Existence of writing helped them to keep accurate records of seasons and volume of food.
3. Name two ways in which railway transport contributed to the Agrarian

   Revolution in Western Europe

   i) Railway provided efficient and reliable means of transport for agricultural products, ii) Provided efficient transport for farm machinery and labour.

4. State one way in which the Agrarian Revolution contributed to rural urban migration in Europe.

   i) Mechanization of farming rendered peasants jobless so they migrated to urban centers in search of job opportunities, ii) The enclosing system made many people landless.

5. a) State one main way in which the Agrarian Revolution contributed to

   the development of urban centers in Europe.

   i) Availability of water from river Ganges and Indus for irrigating farmlands, ii) Existence of fertile soils which were deposited along the river

   Valleys, iii) Existence of fertile indigenous

   crops in the area.

   1. Changes in climatic conditions decreased the supply of food from the natural environment thus cultivation.
   2. Use of improved methods of irrigation eg. earth dams and dykes, vi) Availability of adequate rainfall during certain times of the year promoted farming.

b) What were the effects of the Agrarian Revolution?

1. It led to increase food production which enhanced food security for

   the people.

2. Led to a more settled life as food was easily available.
3. Led to the development of urban centers/towns in agricultural

   collection centers along the river valleys,

4. Some of the agricultural products were exchanged for those commodities which

   people lacked leading to expansion of trade,

5. Availability of food led to population increase, vi) Since people did not spend too much time looking for food, they

   found themselves with time for leisure eg. sports.

1. What factors led to the development of early agricultural in India?

   The enclosure systems/the consolidation of farms forced people to migrate from the rural areas to urban centers.

1. a) What factors favoured the beginning of agriculture during the New

   Stone Age?

   i) Development of tools (microlithic, wooden plough etc) ii) Settled life/development of settlement.

 iii) Increase in population leading to high demand of food. iv)

Climatic changes which made natural food scarce.

1. Hunting and gathering was becoming tiresome.
2. Availability of a variety of seeds/cereals e.g. wheat, barley
3. The remains of their dwelling places.

b) Explain six factors which promoted plantation farming in Europe during the Agrarian Revolution.

1. The invention of machines for extensive farming eg. seed drill, iron plough
2. Discovery of fertilizers which led to high yields/manure.
3. Discovery of pesticides and fungicides which facilitates control of

   crops diseases.

4. Improvement in transport especially the railway which facilitated transportation of bulky goods/farm products and farm workers.
5. High demand for food at rapidly growing urban population.
6. Demand for agricultural and industrial raw materials. vii) Reclamation of wasteland – which gave rise to more arable land.
   viii) Development of new breeds of crops as a result of research in

agriculture. ix) Migration of people to towns created room for plantation farming

in the rural areas,

 x) The enclosure acts/systems pushed people out of the rural areas

and created room for plantation agriculture.

1. Identify two similarities between early agriculture and Mesopotamia and

   Egypt.

   1. Developed a system of storage and preservation of farm products/fertile

   soil/silt ii) Availability of water and transport iii) Farmers depended on flood water for farming,

   1. They developed a system of irrigation.
   2. They used farm implements made of stone, wood and later metal eg. ex, plough vi) They traded in farm produce.
   3. They reared animals, cattle, sheep, chicken.
   4. Planted indigenous crops – wheat, barley, oat etc
      ix)

   Used both-human and animal labour

   x) Developed arithmetic/writing to keep farm records.

1. Explain 4 advantages of the land tenure system in Britain. ^
   1. It led to the development of large scale farming thus bringing more land under

   production. ii) It led to increased food production since more land was brought under

   cultivation.

   1. Increased food production led to an increase in population.
   2. It facilitated the mechanization of agriculture eg. the use of the seed drill, mechanical thresher and combine harvester,
   3. Increased agricultural production led to the establishment of industries which provided employment opportunities to the displaced people, vi) It enhanced control of the spread of pests and diseases and led to production of high quality produce.
   4. It led to the appreciation of value of land.
   5. Improved transport system to transport agricultural produce to the market, ix) Invention of new methods of maintaining soil fertility eg. use of manure, crop rotation and use of fertilizer,

      x) Led to the establishment of organization that disseminated information about the agricultural inventions. For example the Royal Agricultural

   Society xi) New methods of animal husbandry were practiced for

   example selective breeding of livestock, xii) Mechanization of Agriculture led to the growth of local and international trade.

2. a) Describe three factors that facilitated the development of agriculture

   in America before 1800.

   i) European immigration into the region led to population increase and demand for food, ii) European immigrants introduced new methods of farming, iii) Introduction of new crops.

   1. Availability of slave labour led to clearing of forests for farm
   2. Suitability of climate for agriculture. vi) Presence of suitable soils for different types of crops.

      vii) Settlement of enterprising European emigrants who wished to make a living through agriculture, viii) Accountability of indigenous crops.

   b) Discuss the factors that led to the Agrarian Revolution in North America

   i) The introduction of the enclosure system in Britain forced landless to migrate r.o North America where they introduced new farming methods, ii) Availability of land for farming of different crop varieties such as tobacco, cotton and wheat, iii) Government recognition of individual land ownership (The homestead Act 1860) encouraged settlers to farm.

   1. The granting of financial aid to farmers to buy and develop land/credit

      facilities.

   2. The introduction of slave labour ensured adequate supply of labour for farming.
   3. Determination by the European immigrants to succeed in agriculture as there was no other source of livelihood, vii) The increase in demand of agricultural raw materials by European industrialists encouraged expansion in agriculture.

   viii) The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 by Eli Whitney Marke led to increase cotton acreage, ix) The mechanization of agriculture stimulated agricultural productivity eg. the steel plough and the mechanical reaper.

   1. The development of food preservation methods of canning and refrigeration encouraged farmers to produce more.
   2. The development of good transport and communication network led to increased agricultural productivity as products reached markets on time, xii) The application of science and research of agricultural (eg. biotechnology development of new foods from existing crops, use of fertilizers and genetic engineering in livestock production) facilitated the Agrarian Revolution, xiii) Increase in population created demand for food which led to expansion of agriculture.