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IB ESS HL 5.2 Agriculture and Food Questions

Practise IB ESS HL 5.2 by comparing food-production systems, tracking food security and dietary footprints, and evaluating how named strategies shape sustainability.

Syllabus
First assessment 2026
Course
ESS HL
Level
HL

Exam points

  • Analyse competition for finite land as agriculture, forestry and population demand change land use.
  • Classify food systems by purpose, outputs and inputs, and explain choices using local soil, rainfall and temperature.
  • Explain how traditional and Green Revolution farming changes affect yields, food security and environmental sustainability.
  • Evaluate contour ploughing, terracing, cover crops or reduced tillage for their effects on erosion and soil sustainability.
  • Relate diet and trophic level to food footprints, comparing land, water and greenhouse-gas demands with transport and production choices.
  • Interpret food loss by supply-chain stage and region, then match prevention methods to production, retail or household waste.
  • Explain food-security limits from land, water, climate or infrastructure, and how local land harvesting can improve availability.
  • Evaluate named food systems by linking environmental problems to strategies and weighing ecological, economic and social trade-offs.
  • Assess how genetic, species and habitat diversity affect the sustainability of named food-production systems.

Covered syllabus points

5.2.1—Land as finite resource5.2.2—Marginalized groups vulnerability5.2.3—Food production and distribution5.2.4—Agricultural system variation5.2.5—Agricultural system classification5.2.6—Traditional techniques5.2.7—Green Revolution (1950s-1960s)5.2.8—Synthetic fertilizers5.2.9—Soil conservation techniques5.2.10—Diet trophic level and sustainability5.2.11—Sustainable food supply strategies5.2.12—Food security5.2.13 (HL)—Local agricultural choices5.2.14 (HL)—Alternative farming approaches5.2.15 (HL)—Regenerative farming and permaculture5.2.16 (HL)—Technological improvements5.2.17 (HL)—Diet sustainability variations5.2.18 (HL)—Harvesting wild species5.2.19 (HL)—Traditional vs. global food needs5.2.20 (HL)—Food distribution and quality

Question 1

[Maximum number: 1]
Land used in Costa Rica for pineapple production between 1961 and 2013

Figure:Land used in Costa Rica for pineapple production between 1961 and 2013

Conversion to cropland from other land uses in north-eastern Costa Rica (1986-2011)

Figure:Conversion to cropland from other land uses in north-eastern Costa Rica (1986-2011)

cash crops
- Agriculture includes pineapples, bananas, coffee and beef.
- Pineapple production expanded between 1961 and 2013 and cropland expansion converted other land uses.

With reference to Figure: Conversion to cropland from other land uses in north-eastern Costa Rica (1986-2011), identify where most of the additional land for growing crops came from between 1986 and 2011.

Question 2

[Maximum number: 5]
Figure 3: Food loss and waste (in million tonnes per year) in a North American food production system

Figure 3: Food loss and waste (in million tonnes per year) in a North American food production system

127 million tonnes

Question (a)

(a)

With reference to Figure 3, identify the stage that represents the greatest food loss and waste in North America.

[ 1 ]

Question (b)

(b)

Outline two strategies to reduce food waste at the use stage (stage 5) in North America.

[ 2 ]

Question (c)

(c)

With reference to a stage in Figure 3, describe one reason for a difference between food loss and waste in a less economically developed country (LEDC).

[ 2 ]

Question 3

[Maximum number: 1]
Figure 5: Dam storage, urban and agricultural water use, and rainfall in the Western Cape, South Africa, 2014–2018

Figure 5: Dam storage, urban and agricultural water use, and rainfall in the Western Cape, South Africa, 2014–2018

Outline one reason for the variation in agricultural water use, as shown in Figure 5.

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