The risks agriculture faces in developing countries: reading answers and analysis
This passage reports an online debate about the risks small farmers in developing countries face, from weather and climate change to prices and poor infrastructure. Experts propose state help, private insurance, crop diversity, co-operatives and selling direct to consumers, and several point out the limits of each idea.
Paragraph matching (1-3) uses A, B and H. The people matching (4-9) jumps around paragraphs D to I, so you'll be scanning names rather than reading in order. The two choose-TWO questions draw on G and I (problems), then H and I (recommendations).
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the passage yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
Q
Your answer
Answer
Questions 1-3 · Matching information (paragraphs A-I)
How to attack this block: The word 'only' in the first two items is the clue. One paragraph says food production is unique, another says some farmers face extra problems the rest don't. The third item needs the paragraph that warns co-operation takes time, effort and money.
Question 1
Answer: AParagraph A, first two sentences
Which paragraph describes features that belong to food production alone?
Two things distinguish food production from all other productive activities
Question says → Passage says
characteristics that only apply to food productiondistinguish food production from all other productive activities / These two unique aspects
Why: A names two things that set food production apart from every other activity: everyone needs food, and it depends on nature. It even calls them 'unique aspects', which is the 'only apply to' idea.
The trap: B also describes difficulties farming faces, but those are risks, not features that make food production different from other businesses.
Question 2
Answer: BParagraph B, second sentence
Which paragraph mentions problems that only farmers in some regions have to deal with?
However, smallholder farmers in developing countries must in addition deal with adverse environments
Question says → Passage says
farmers in certain parts of the worldsmallholder farmers in developing countries
challenges faced only bymust in addition deal with
Why: B first lists risks all farmers share, then says farmers in developing countries face extra ones on top. 'In addition' marks the problems that only they have.
The trap: G talks about climate change hitting small-scale farmers, but climate change affects 'farmers everywhere' too. Only B separates out problems specific to one part of the world.
Question 3
Answer: HParagraph H, middle
Which paragraph says it isn't easy to get farmers working together?
One commentator, Giel Ton, warned that collective action does not come as a free good. It takes time, effort and money to organise, build trust and to experiment.
Question says → Passage says
co-operation between farmerscollective action / co-operatives or producers' groups
difficulties in bringing aboutdoes not come as a free good / It takes time, effort and money to organise
Why: H recommends co-operatives, then Ton points out the catch: setting them up costs time, effort and money. Those are the difficulties of creating co-operation.
The trap: Murphy's quote in the same paragraph praises collective action. Don't stop at the benefits; the difficulty comes two sentences later.
Matching statements to people
Questions 4-9
How to attack this block: Murphy appears in several paragraphs and answers twice, so don't cross her off. Scan for each name, then read only that person's sentence. Separate the government-help statements carefully: one is about who gets subsidies, one about welfare improving lives, one about prices and one about roads and storage.
Question 4
Answer: DParagraph E, last sentence
Who says government money often misses the farmers who need it most?
studies show that sixty percent of beneficiaries of subsidies are not poor, but rich landowners and non-farmer traders
Question says → Passage says
Financial assistance from the governmentstate subsidies for agriculture
does not always go to the farmers who most need itbeneficiaries of subsidies are not poor, but rich landowners
Why: Kabir reports that most people who get subsidies are rich landowners and traders, not poor farmers. So the help isn't reaching those who need it most: D.
The trap: Fan (C) is in the same paragraph and also talks about government programmes, but he says they help. The 'commentators' who doubt cash transfers aren't on the list of people.
Question 5
Answer: BParagraph H, third sentence
Who says farmers gain from working together in groups?
collective action offers an important way for farmers to strengthen their political and economic bargaining power, and to reduce their business risks
Question says → Passage says
collaborating as a groupcollective action
benefitstrengthen their political and economic bargaining power
Why: Murphy says collective action strengthens farmers' bargaining power and cuts their risks. Those are the benefits of collaborating: B.
The trap: Giel Ton (F) is in the same paragraph and talks about collective action too, but his point is the cost of organising it, not the benefit.
Question 6
Answer: CParagraph E, first sentence
Who says government help can raise farmers' living standards?
held up social safety nets and public welfare programmes in Ethiopia, Brazil and Mexico as valuable ways to address poverty among farming families
Question says → Passage says
Financial assistance from the governmentsocial safety nets and public welfare programmes
improve the standard of livingaddress poverty among farming families
Why: Fan praises state welfare programmes as a valuable way to tackle poverty in farming families. Reducing poverty means a better standard of living: C.
The trap: Kabir (D) talks about government subsidies two sentences later, but she says they go to the wrong people. That's the opposite view, and it's Q4's answer.
Question 7
Answer: GParagraph I, third sentence
Who says farmers can be helped when their customers also invest money in them?
community-supported agriculture, where consumers invest in local farmers by subscription and guarantee producers a fair price
Question says → Passage says
financial inputinvest in local farmers by subscription
the same individuals who buy from themconsumers
Why: In Bisht's model the consumers who eat the food also invest in the farms by subscription, and farmers get a fair price. Buyers who put money in: G.
The trap: The unnamed commentator in I suggests selling directly to consumers, which is close. But selling isn't investing, and that commentator isn't on the list.
Question 8
Answer: BParagraph D, last sentence
Who says governments can help keep prices steadier?
the procurement and holding of stocks by governments can also help mitigate wild swings in food prices
Question says → Passage says
Governments can helpby governments can also help
reduce variation in pricesmitigate wild swings in food prices
Why: Murphy says government food stocks can calm 'wild swings' in prices. 'Variation' paraphrases 'swings', so it's B again.
The trap: Nwanze (A) is in the same paragraph and also says governments can reduce risk, but through roads and storage, not prices. Murphy's line about futures markets in F is about prices rising, not government action.
Question 9
Answer: AParagraph D, second sentence
Who says better infrastructure can cut farmers' risk a lot?
governments can significantly reduce risks for farmers by providing basic services like roads to get produce more efficiently to markets
Question says → Passage says
Improvements to infrastructurebasic services like roads… or water and food storage facilities
a major impact on risksignificantly reduce risks
Why: Nwanze names roads and storage facilities, which are infrastructure, and says they can 'significantly' reduce risk. 'Major impact' paraphrases 'significantly': A.
The trap: Infrastructure is also listed in B as a problem, but B isn't anyone's opinion. Murphy follows Nwanze in D, but her point is about food stocks.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 10-11
How to attack this block: You want problems, not solutions. Insurance and irrigation are mentioned as things that help, so they're distractors. One answer is about weather becoming less predictable, the other about middlemen who set prices.
Question 10-11
Answer: D and E (in either order)Paragraphs G and I
Which two problems for small farmers in developing countries does the passage mention?
The growing unpredictability of weather patterns increases farmers' difficulty in managing weather-related risks… intermediary purchasers who, taking advantage of farmers' vulnerability, dictate prices
Question says → Passage says
the effects of changing weather patternsThe growing unpredictability of weather patterns / climate change and its consequences for small-scale agriculture
having to sell their goods to intermediary buyersintermediary purchasers who, taking advantage of farmers' vulnerability, dictate prices
Why: D: G says climate change makes weather less predictable and harder to manage. E: I says middlemen take advantage of farmers and set the prices, which makes price volatility worse.
The trap: C (insurance) is the most tempting. Insurance appears in F, but as a tool that can help farmers. Nobody says farmers can't get it. B (irrigation) and A (demand) aren't mentioned as problems.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 12-13
How to attack this block: Look for actions the passage recommends. Food stocks come up, but governments are told to hold them, not shrink them. The answers are cooperation across many groups and consumers investing in farms by subscription.
Question 12-13
Answer: C and D (in either order)Paragraphs H and I
Which two actions does the passage recommend to help farmers?
all stakeholders, including business, government, scientists and civil society, must work together… where consumers invest in local farmers by subscription
Question says → Passage says
co-operation between a wide range of interested partiesall stakeholders, including business, government, scientists and civil society, must work together
consumers to take a financial stake in farmingconsumers invest in local farmers by subscription
Why: C: Vernooij and Beukeboom want all stakeholders to work together, which is a wide range of interested parties. D: Bisht recommends community-supported agriculture, where consumers invest in farms.
The trap: A (reducing food stocks) reverses Murphy's idea: she wants governments to hold stocks. E (explaining price changes to customers) borrows 'transparency' from F, but that's about showing whether supplies are adequate, not informing shoppers.
Bisht, in I: consumers who buy the food also invest in the farm by subscription. 'Financial input by the same individuals who buy from them' is a heavy paraphrase.
C (insurance) is tempting, but the passage offers insurance as a solution. It never says farmers can't get it.
Words from this passage worth keeping
entrenched(A)
firmly established and hard to change
price volatility(B)
prices going up and down quickly and unpredictably
adverse(B)
harmful or unfavourable
mitigate(D)
make something bad less severe
procurement(D)
the buying or obtaining of supplies
stranglehold(E)
complete control that stops others acting freely
resilient(G)
able to cope with and recover from difficult conditions
stakeholders(H)
people or groups with an interest in something
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The full Cambridge 12 Test 6 reading paper: all three passages, 60 minutes, marked the second you finish with a review of every answer. Already done it? Take it again and see if the same traps still get you.
Cambridge IELTS 12, Test 6, Reading Passage 1. The passage and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full text, or sit the test on Langujet.
The rest of Cambridge 12 Test 6
Passage 1 · Questions 1-13 · You're hereThe risks agriculture faces in developing countries
