ACJC H1 Prelim 2024 QP

ANGLO-CHINESE JUNIOR COLLEGE 2024 JC2 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS ECONOMICS 8843/01 Higher 1 Paper 1 19 August 2024 3 hours Additional materials: Writing papers and Cover sheet X 2 READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your exam index number and name on all the answers you hand in. Write in dark blue or black ink pen on both sides of the paper. You may use a soft pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working. Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid / tape in your answers. Answer all questions. Begin Question 2 on a fresh sheet of writing paper. At the end of the examination, arrange your answers in order. Fasten your answers for Question 1 and Question 2 separately using the cover sheets provided. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. This document consists of 8 printed pages (including this page). Please check that your question paper is complete.

2 ©ACJC 2024 Preliminary Exam 8843/01 Answer all questions Question 1: Food Security and Challenges Table 1: Global Food Commodity Prices The Food and Agriculture Organisation Food Price Index (FFPI) is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. The table below shows the five commodity groups – food, meat, dairy, cereal, vegetable oil and sugar. Their respective price index is the average price indices over 2017 to 2022. Food Price Index Meat Price Index Dairy Price Index Cereal Price Index Vegetable Oil Price Index Sugar Price Index 2017 98.0 97.7 108.0 91.0 101.9 99.1 2018 95.9 94.9 107.3 100.8 87.8 77.4 2019 95.1 100.0 102.8 96.6 83.2 78.6 2020 98.1 95.5 101.8 103.1 99.4 79.5 2021 125.8 107.9 119.6 131.2 164.9 109.3 2022 144.7 118.8 149.5 154.7 187.8 114.5 Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Extract 1: Why are global food prices near an all-time high? Higher global food prices are contributing to a wider trend of increased cost -of-living in both advanced and emerging economies. The annual rate of inflation worldwide is 9.2%, driven by a surge in energy as well as food prices. Prior to the Russia-Ukraine war, droughts and Covid-19 restrictions have driven up global food prices. The price hike worsens after the war, as the combined supply from both Russia and Ukraine is around 30% of global wheat exports and around a fifth of the world’s maize supply. To make matters worse, farming activities, including irrigation and transportation of agricultural machinery, rely heavily on energy sources like diesel and natural gas. Therefore, rising energy prices directly translate to higher pr oduction costs, ultimately reflected in food prices . At the same time, due to longer lifespan, the world’s population has grown exponentially over the last few decades. The increased chaos in global food markets has led to a new probl