Colombia’s flood economy – answers

true/false/no evidence

1. Colombia’s agricultural sector is very small. NE: we don’t know anything about its size, only the fact that it is expanding
2. The long rainy season is causing problems for agriculture. T: agriculture is ‘feeling the bite’
3. The rains should stop soon. F: there is ‘no sign of the rains letting up’
4. Thousands of acres of land are under water. F: millions of acres, 2.5 million
5. The farmer interviewed has been developing his farming business for a long time.T: he has been building it up for 35 years
6. He has lost 30% of his crops. F: 30% of the milk supply – he is a dairy farmer
7. Many of the crops grown in this region are illegal. F: they used to be – ‘illicit coca plantations’ but now the government wants to grow food
8. The region also produces baskets. NE: no mention is made of this – breadbasket is an idiom for food
9. The biggest impact of the weather has been felt in animal farming. T: 65% of the losses
10. Colombia produces the best cut flowers in the world. NE: we know that they are the primary source of flowers for the US and the 2nd biggest provider world-wide but we have no information in the report about the quality of their flowers (although common sense tells us this must be true)
11. 3.5 million farmers have been affected by the heavy rain. F: 3.5 million people we don’t know if these are all farmers
12. There are 32 separate regions on Colombia. T: and 30 of these have been affected by the floods