1. Every SAT Writing passage comes with 5 questions attached.
You should thoroughly read the provided passage and select the multiple-choice answers that best enhance the writing’s quality or ensure the passage adheres to the standard English conventions.
The answers and explanations will be provided at the end of the test.
For centuries, agriculture has formed the foundation of economic and cultural life for the vast majority of rural inhabitants in developing regions worldwide. Across arid grasslands, tropical forests and mountain valleys, smallholders utilize an immense diversity of land races and traditional practices adapted through generations to highly localized environs.
However, the expansion of industrialized systems promulgated by international interests increasingly marginalizes these place-based approaches. Post-colonial policies emphasized integration into global commodity chains privileging export crops over food sovereignty. yet, monocultures disrupt ecologically balanced rotations and undermine dietary diversity, nutritional security and resilience to climatic fluctuations. Dependence on petrochemical inputs concentrates risks, pollution and wealth among agribusinesses while dispossessing many cultivators.
In response, many grassroots initiatives revitalize agroecological methods suited to watersheds and indigenous seed varieties. By diversifying production across vertical layers mimicking forest biodiversity, agroforestry sequesters carbon, enriches soils and supports intercropping of market and subsistence crops. Through decentralized cooperative organization, smallholders gain competitive access to markets balancing commercial viability with autonomy. On community-managed lands, regenerating pastures utilise rotational grazing and revegetation to restore hydrological cycles.
However, entrenched development models prioritizing industrial efficiency face structural barriers impeding scaling agroecology. Additionally, rural exodus strains traditional knowledge transmission. Nonetheless, some national policies now promote territorial approaches supporting diverse cuisine, agrotourism and cultural heritage financially recognizing ecosystem services. At international scales, networks disseminate participatory research on climate-resilient techniques through open-source platforms.
Going forward, multilevel frameworks blend top-down enabling conditions with community-driven innovation. Flexible policies strengthen food sovereignty through voluntary certification recognizing place-based practices on their own merits. As grassroots movements increasingly pressure reforms, diverse yet interdependent pathways can empower sustainable stewardship of agrobiodiversity and rural livelihoods globally.
Question 1.
- According to the passage, what does subsistence farming perpetuate in many developing nations?
