fh.2.1 The merits of a systems approach
Content
- Geographic inquiry and concept(s)
- How physical and human processes lead to changes in food production and consumption, and incidence and spread of disease.
- Geographic knowledge and understanding
- The merits of a systems approach (inputs, stores, transfers, outputs) to compare energy efficiency and water footprints in food production, and relative sustainability in different places
- Case study or detailed examples
- Neither required by the syllabus
- Aims of this lesson
- To have knowledge of how a systems approach can be applied to energy efficiency and water footprints in food production.
- To have an understanding of the advantages of using a systems approach when discussing food production.
Base knowledge and understanding
News article
Era of ‘global water bankruptcy’ is here, UN report says
Overuse and pollution must end urgently as no one knows when whole system might collapse, says expert
The Guardian · 20 January 2026
Key terms
- Blue water
- Fresh surface and groundwater, in other words, the water in freshwater lakes, rivers and aquifers.
- Energy efficiency ratio
- A property of agricultural systems. It is defined as the ratio of energy out to energy in. The energy out is the energy that the system outputs in the food we eat. The energy in is the energy that the system consumes in order to produce the food. Different types of agriculture systems vary widely in energy efficiency, a fact that has important implications.
- Green water
- The precipitation on land that does not run off or recharge the groundwater but is stored in the soil or temporarily stays on top of the soil or vegetation.
- Grey water
- Refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without faecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater from toilets. Sources of greywater include sinks, showers, baths, washing machines or dishwashers.
- Systems approach
- Based on the generalisation that everything is interrelated and interdependent.
- Water footprint
- The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of fresh water used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business.
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Review
- Outline one advantage of using a systems approach to compare the sustainability of different food production methods. [2]
- Explain two reasons why the water footprint of food production varies between different types of farming. [4]
- Examine how physical and human processes can lead to spatial variations in food production and consumption. [10]
- Examine how the water footprint and energy efficiency of different food production systems vary between places. [10]
