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This is a cause and solution IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer on the topic of agriculture written by me, Dave, a former British Council IELTS examiner.
Be careful with the structure of these IELTS essays: you should write one paragraph clearly explaining why (the cause) and one clearly explaining a possible solution.
Don’t waste your time talking generally about the topic – get as specific as you can as quickly as you can.
The recent questions from the IELTS writing task 2 exam are here, task 1 is here and the speaking questions and topics are here.
If you want to read my other sample answers, I have written about lots of different topics here!
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Dave
IELTS Examiner Sample Answer from Cambridge 13: Agriculture (by Dave)
In spite of the advances made in agriculture, many people around the world still go hungry. Why is this the case? What can be done about this problem?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge. Write at least 250 words.
Recent years have witnessed tremendous developments in agricultural science yet every day people all over the world continue to suffer and even die from hunger. In my opinion, this is because innovations rarely impact the developing world and the best solution for it is to direct humanitarian funding towards these advances.
The main cause of more advanced agricultural methods not reaching the people who need it the most is that the developing world has trouble implementing these methods. There are a number of reasons for this ranging from limited financial resources to poor existing infrastructure to political instability, depending on the country in question. One example of this would be in many African nations, where malnourishment has historically been highest. Countries like the Congo have seen revolution after revolution over the last several decades, which has effectively destabilised the entire country. The universities where students would learn about changes in agriculture are frequently shut down or destroyed. The young people who would become agricultural scientists end up drawn into the conflict as soldiers or victims. Long-term economic neglect means that the government has very limited ability to subsidise farming. These problems are present to varying degrees in countries around the world and offer one possible explanation for the continued prevalence of hunger.
The solution that I believe would be most effective is directing humanitarian funds previously focused on food aid towards education and agricultural infrastructure. Food aid is a notoriously poor solution because it only offers an immediate solution and warlords often exploit it to support their continued mistreatment of their people. It hurts more than it helps. However, there would be better long-term effects if international organisations and governments redirected that money into helping build better farms, provide more modern equipment, and sending qualified professions to train people in need. There is a TedTalk by a young man in Kenya who built his own windmill out of old bicycle parts and by reading a book in the local library. It is large enough to power his own house and he was seeking financing for a larger one that would power irrigation channels for the entire village. If more people like him can be found or trained then this will have an impact that lasts for decades and is relatively impervious to the factors preventing agricultural advances from taking root in developing countries.
In conclusion, developing companies face myriad problems that hinder their ability to take advantage of newer agricultural models and we should direct more funding to helping these countries learn more about new farming methods. This is likely to be an important issue in the world as the gap between rich and poor, developed and undeveloped widens while technological progress continues its indifferent march forward.
IELTS Examiner Sample Answer Analysis
1. Recent years have witnessed tremendous developments in agricultural science yet every day people all over the world continue to suffer and even die from hunger. 2. In my opinion, this is because innovations rarely impact the developing world and the best solution for it is to direct humanitarian funding towards these advances.
1. The first sentence is only to repeat the topic – this sentence is not very important and you should write it very quickly.
2. My second sentence states my opinion – this sentence is super important if you want above band 5 for task achievement but you can also write it quickly.
1. The main cause of more advanced agricultural methods not reaching the people who need it the most is that the developing world has trouble implementing these methods. 2. There are a number of reasons for this ranging from limited financial resources to poor existing infrastructure to political instability, depending on the country in question. 3. One example of this would be in many African nations, where malnourishment has historically been highest. 4. Countries like the Congo have seen revolution after revolution over the last several decades, which has effectively destabilised the entire country. 5. The universities where students would learn about changes in agriculture are frequently shut down or destroyed. 6. The young people who would become agricultural scientists end up drawn into the conflict as soldiers or victims. 7. Long-term economic neglect means that the government has very limited ability to subsidise farming. 8. These problems are present to varying degrees in countries around the world and offer one possible explanation for the continued prevalence of hunger.
1. The first sentence is my topic sentence, which tells the reader what the whole paragraph is about. Once you write about your main idea, you can ONLY talk about that main idea for the rest of the paragraph.
2. The second sentence details some of the main reasons. Try to be as specific as possible – avoid being general!
3. My third sentence starts my example of African countries. Don’t feel bad using your own country as an example – it is what you know best!
4. The fourth sentence makes my example more specific. Develop your examples. They should be specific and detailed!
5. My fifth sentence keeps developing the example of the Congo.
6. The sixth sentence keeps developing the example of the Congo. Develop, develop, develop!
7. The seventh sentence keeps developing the example of the Congo.
8. My eighth sentence is more general and related it back to the main idea for the paragraph.
1. The solution that I believe would be most effective is directing humanitarian funds previously focused on food aid towards education and agricultural infrastructure. 2. Food aid is a notoriously poor solution because it only offers an immediate solution and warlords often exploit it to support their continued mistreatment of their people. 3. It hurts more than it helps. 4. However, there would be better long-term effects if international organisations and governments redirected that money into helping build better farms, provide more modern equipment, and sending qualified professions to train people in need. 5. There is a TedTalk by a young man in Kenya who built his own windmill out of old bicycle parts and by reading a book in the local library. 6. It is large enough to power his own house and he was seeking financing for a larger one that would power irrigation channels for the entire village. 7. If more people like him can be found or trained then this will have an impact that lasts for decades and is relatively impervious to the factors preventing agricultural advances from taking root in developing countries.
1. The first sentence is a topic sentence with my main idea: we should put humanitarian money into training and infrastructure for agriculture.
2. The next sentence says why the current use of food aid is ineffective.
3. My third sentence expands this – don’t be afraid to write the occasional short, simple, accurate sentence!
4. The fourth sentence gives very specific details about what kind of infrastructure and training is needed to solve the problem.
5. My fifth sentence gives a concrete example of a TedTalk I watched. Don’t worry if you can’t remember the name!
6. The sixth sentence continues the example.
7. My seventh sentence relates it back to the main idea and concludes the paragraph.
1. In conclusion, developing companies face myriad problems that hinder their ability to take advantage of newer agricultural models and we should direct more funding to helping these countries learn more about new farming methods. 2. This is likely to be an important issue in the world as the gap between rich and poor, developed and undeveloped widens while technological progress continues its indifferent march forward.
1. The first sentence summarises my arguments. This sentence is not very important so write it as fast as you can!
2. My second sentence gives an extra detail – this sentence is important so make sure that you have enough time for it at the end.
Sample Answer Vocabulary
How many of the words in bold below do you know? You might understand them a bit, not 100%. To practice try to write a dictionary definition of each one and then check your answers below.
Recent years have witnessed tremendous developments in agricultural science yet every day people all over the world continue to suffer and even die from hunger. In my opinion, this is because innovations rarely impact the developing world and the best solution for it is to direct humanitarian funding towards these advances.
The main cause of more advanced agricultural methods not reaching the people who need it the most is that the developing world has trouble implementing these methods. There are a number of reasons for this ranging from limited financial resources to poor existing infrastructure to political instability, depending on the country in question. One example of this would be in many African nations, where malnourishment has historically been highest. Countries like the Congo have seen revolution after revolution over the last several decades, which has effectively destabilised the entire country. The universities where students would learn about changes in agriculture are frequently shut down or destroyed. The young people who would become agricultural scientists end up drawn into the conflict as soldiers or victims. Long-term economic neglect means that the government has very limited ability to subsidise farming. These problems are present to varying degrees in countries around the world and offer one possible explanation for the continued prevalence of hunger.
The solution that I believe would be most effective is directing humanitarian funds previously focused on food aid towards education and agricultural infrastructure. Food aid is a notoriously poor solution because it only offers an immediate solution and warlords often exploit it to support their continued mistreatment of their people. It hurts more than it helps. However, there would be better long-term effects if international organisations and governments redirected that money into helping build better farms, provide more modern equipment, and sending qualified professions to train people in need. There is a TedTalk by a young man in Kenya who built his own windmill out of old bicycle parts and by reading a book in the local library. It is large enough to power his own house and he was seeking financing for a larger one that would power irrigation channels for the entire village. If more people like him can be found or trained then this will have an impact that lasts for decades and is relatively impervious to the factors preventing agricultural advances from taking root in developing countries.
In conclusion, developing companies face myriad problems that hinder their ability to take advantage of newer agricultural models and we should direct more funding to helping these countries learn more about new farming methods. This is likely to be an important issue in the world as the gap between rich and poor, developed and undeveloped widens while technological progress continues its indifferent march forward.
Answers:
witnessed tremendous developments: saw great changes
innovations: new ideas/inventions
direct humanitarian funding towards: put more charity money into
trouble implementing these methods: difficult time making these changes
ranging from: including
poor existing infrastructure: bad roads, buildings, etc.
political instability: problems with the government related to war, strife, and mismanagement
malnourishment: lack of nutrients for the body
historically been highest: in the past has been the greatest
revolution: when people in a country revolt and try to change the government
destabilised: lack of clear leadership, uncertain times
drawn into the conflict: become part of a war/fighting
neglect: don’t pay attention to
subsidise farming: governments giving money to farmers
present to varying degrees: exists either a little or a lot
one possible explanation: one reason why
continued prevalence: still strong/common
notoriously: famous for being bad
warlords: the revolutionaries who start wars in some African countries
long-term effects: impact over a long period of time
redirected: change the direction
in need: to need something
seeking financing: looking for money
irrigation: providing water for farms
relatively impervious: cannot be touched/impacted to some extent
taking root: begins to have an effect
face myriad problems: have many problems
hinder: hold back or harm
gap between rich and poor: the difference between rich and poor
indifferent: uncaring
Vocabulary Practice
Recent years have ___________________ in agricultural science yet every day people all over the world continue to suffer and even die from hunger. In my opinion, this is because ___________________ rarely impact the developing world and the best solution for it is to ___________________ these advances.
The main cause of more advanced agricultural methods not reaching the people who need it the most is that the developing world has ___________________. There are a number of reasons for this ___________________ limited financial resources to ___________________ to ___________________, depending on the country in question. One example of this would be in many African nations, where ___________________ has ___________________. Countries like the Congo have seen ___________________ after revolution over the last several decades, which has effectively ___________________ the entire country. The universities where students would learn about changes in agriculture are frequently shut down or destroyed. The young people who would become agricultural scientists end up ___________________ as soldiers or victims. Long-term economic ___________________ means that the government has very limited ability to ___________________. These problems are ___________________ in countries around the world and offer ___________________ for the ___________________ of hunger.
The solution that I believe would be most effective is directing humanitarian funds previously focused on food aid towards education and agricultural infrastructure. Food aid is a ___________________ poor solution because it only offers an immediate solution and ___________________ often exploit it to support their continued mistreatment of their people. It hurts more than it helps. However, there would be better ___________________ if international organisations and governments ___________________ that money into helping build better farms, provide more modern equipment, and sending qualified professions to train people ___________________. There is a TedTalk by a young man in Kenya who built his own windmill out of old bicycle parts and by reading a book in the local library. It is large enough to power his own house and he was ___________________ for a larger one that would power ___________________ channels for the entire village. If more people like him can be found or trained then this will have an impact that lasts for decades and is ___________________ to the factors preventing agricultural advances from ___________________ in developing countries.
In conclusion, developing companies ___________________ that ___________________ their ability to take advantage of newer agricultural models and we should direct more funding to helping these countries learn more about new farming methods. This is likely to be an important issue in the world as the ___________________, developed and undeveloped widens while technological progress continues its ___________________ march forward.
Links about Agriculture
Take a look! This will help you to review some of the vocabulary you learned from the sample answer above!
The Agricultural Revolution
Amazing Japanese Agriculture
Developing Agriculture to End Hunger
The Dark Side of Agriculture in Ethiopia
Comment below – what kind of fruits and vegetables are grown in your country?
Where I’m from, it’s mainly…
There’s a bit of everything but mostly…
We are best known for…
Depends on the season. Right now…
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Hello. Thank you so much for your help all the time. Can you kindly take a look at my answer please?
Thanks to the development of agriculture, we can enjoy various kinds of foods including tropical fruits and vegetables almost anytime and anywhere. However, there are still a lot of people who are suffering from hunger. One of the reasons is that mostly developed countries take advantages of the advances and the solution is to provide help to developing countries financially and technically.
Most of the advances made in agriculture have been placed in developed countries. With humongous lands and enough financial support, well off countries have invested a lot in new technologies in agriculture. A good example is USA, which harvests the most rice and corns in the world. On the other hand, most developing countries, which have more people who go hungry, could not take advantages of developed agriculture because they don’t have enough budget to invest as well as skills to support.
To improve the current situation, some developed countries, which need to feed their own people, need more supports financially and technically. The biggest barriers to improve agriculture system are money and skills. If global institutes can help them both financially and technically, they can use their big size of lands and relatively cheap labors to grow more foods to feed their own people.
In conclusion, it is true that we have advanced agriculture system, but not all of the people are taking advantage of it. Developing countries don’t have access to developed technologies, and we can fix this problem by providing them both financial and technical supports globally.
Sure! Here are some corrections:
Thanks to the development of agriculture, we can enjoy various kinds of foods including tropical fruits and vegetables almost anytime and anywhere. However, there are still a lot of people who are suffering from hunger. One of the reasons for this is that mostly developed countries take advantage of the advances and the solution is to provide help to developing countries financially and technically.
Most of the advances made in agriculture have been in developed countries. With large land area and enough financial support, well off countries have invested a lot in new agricultural technologies. A good example is the USA, which harvests the most rice and corn in the world. On the other hand, most developing countries, which have more people who go hungry, can not take advantage of advances in agriculture because they do not have enough budget to invest as well as experience.
To improve the current situation, some developed countries, which need to feed their own people, need more financial and technical support. The biggest barriers to improve agriculture system are money and skills. If global institutes can help them both financially and technically, they can use their big size of lands and relatively cheap labors to grow more food to feed their own people.
In conclusion, it is true that we have an advanced agricultural system, but not all nations are taking advantage of it. Developing countries do not have access to developed technologies and we can fix this problem by providing them both financial and technical supports globally.
Very solid but I think it might be a bit short in terms of word count and the third paragraph could use a bit more specific support!
Like your style of writing. Always straight to the point 🙂
Thanks so much!
All countries are dependent on agriculture for fulfilling their needs in satisfying the hunger of people. Starvation and hunger are two clearly visible things which made governments concerned around the world. With evolving Science and technology, there have been adoption of new methods, hybrid seeds, genetically modified crops, modern tools and equipment. Still, there are countries where people sleep hungry.
The other reason is ever growing population. No matter how much the world produce, there will always be someone left unfed. With time, population is growing and the resources we have are limiting. Although the advances in agriculture are remarkable, yet these aren’t able to feed the malnourished population, as the land remains limited and more farming land being turned to residential areas. This results in limited harvest and cultivation, thereby limited crops and food resources.
Or, in other words, we may say that the rate with which the developments in agricultural practices and farming in advancing is lagging behind the rate of growth in world population year-on-year. The population which was once 3 billion after world war second has now reached close to 7 billion by 2020.
The other reason clear reason is capitalism. Though some nations across the world are self-sufficient, yet they are not able to help poor nations because of one reason or the other. Capitalism is great in some sense for some nations but that should not make nations get away of the basic moral responsibility of humanity to support the poor people who are not able to buy or produce their own food. The developed and technologically advanced nations having more finances and resources remain more interested in progress of their own without paying heed towards nations dealing with poverty due to lack of resources and insufficiency. As a result, these people from specific nations remain malnourished and destitute. United Nations Organisation is helping those poor nations in Africa but it seems not enough to support the cause when there are millions of people who still go to sleep hungry.
To sum up, the advancements in agriculture is being subsided and bypassed by the increase in population. This trend is not seen being reversed easily in near future until and unless the humanity across the world acknowledge the hunger, thirst and insufficiency of identified societies across the world and take immediate discernible steps on ground as soon as possible.
Please help in evaluating my opassage
Sure!
Well done Sachin! (Love the name btw – where are you from?)
Be careful with subject verb agreement, verb forms, punctuation, articles, verb tense, level of formality, and you need to develop the solution more clearly rather than just explaining the problem again – be more specific and detailed!
Great vocabulary throughout but your grammar and cohesion/coherence will bring the score down a lot.
Hello? Can you take a look at my introduction please?
Processes of agriculture is improving more and more, however, there are still number of people who suffer from hunger throughout the world. In my opinion, this is because of lack of development in countries and implementation of appropriate state policies could solve this issue.
Great – keep your intros simple ans easy like that!
Agriculture has come a long way in recent century and make great progress. Although، particular areas are deprived of the boon of these developments. in my opinion, critical conditions are the dominant rationale and charity foundations can lend a hand to solve this problem.
The poor areas have limited access to agricultural Improvements. Take sub-saharan nations which are suffering from starvation and law-quality farming as an example, have neither sufficient budget to gain the Innovation licenses nor well- educated experts to apply them or even teach national students. only handful companies in developed countries holds monopoly of technological advancements in science in general and in agriculture in particular which are not affordable by undeveloped or even developing countries. Moreover, students in these areas often have to leave school to help their families to make ends meet. In the long term there will be lack of plant scientist professors and excellent farmers to change their current situations.
Combating hunger is not an easy task. If charity organizations spend the billions of dollars that go into providing food on installing agricultural modern equipment as well as cutting-edge irrigation system then perhaps poor areas residents would reap more products from their plantations. Native pupils education to become competent farmers and knowledgable professors can also be the other alternative promising destination for financial aids. Skilled farmers can plant their farms in more efficient way. Teachers and professors play a crucial rule in training and briging up children who are intrested in agricultural science.
In conclusion, the poor cannot impart the global agricultural Improvements Unless benefactors steer handouts twoard suitable drections. Scientists should share their achievements and food-related papers by wider audience as to deplete word from hungry habitats.
Well written Helena!
I don’t have time to check writing this week but you can sign up for some corrections here: course.howtodoielts.com/band-scores-corrections
Keep up the the good effort!
Coul u plz check mine?
Sorry I won’t have time this week, Helena, but keep it up!
You can sign up here: course.howtodoielts.com/band-scores-corrections
A small correction in your conclusion part where you might have mistyped developing countries as developed companies.
Kindly check.
Thank you! That one is correct but there is typo in the conclusion where I wrote ‘develop’ instead of ‘developed’ – fixed now!
best writing I have ever read thank you very much
You’re very welcome – you should read some more good books though!
sorry teacher i usually dont write my opinion when it is not asked..for example in this question i would say>>>> : Recent years have witnessed tremendous developments in agricultural science yet every day people all over the world continue to suffer and even die from hunger . societies need to take steps to diminish these negative effects .
(and then problems 1&2 paragraph)
(and then solution 1&2 paragraph)
(and then conclusion)
it can be right?i usually don’t state my opinion when it is not needed
and if it’s needed i write it
is it right to structure that way?
and then (first cause with solution+support))***
(and then second cause with solution+spport)***
(and then conclusion)
That structure works well too!
Thank you very much Sorry teacher If I don’t write opinion will get lower score?
sorry and i have one more question in your first body paragraph you just talked about problems and the next just talked about solutions?
Yes, that is the structure I used but you can write about the problem and solution in the same paragraph – that is fine too!
For most questions yes, though if it is a problem/solution or a two-part question then it is not always important to say ‘In my opinion’ as long as you are answering the task.
Yes, that structure is fine Maryam!
Hi Dave, can you give some corrections and suggestions for my essay below!
Any help will be appreciated!
Over the past centuries, the human race has made remarkable advancements in the field of agriculture but the problem of food scarcity still remains. The problem could not disappear since the progressions made nowadays require technical knowledge that may not be possessed by the people in need. This essay will explain the reason behind the problem and suggest a probable solution to tackle the issue.
The advancement of our agriculture in recent years has always relied on technology. This will increase the efficiency of our food production, but the application of the knowledge and technology may be exclusive to some parts of the world only. As a result, the developing countries that need to boost their food production might be hindered by the complexity of such technology. For example, we could take a look at the popular hydroponics system which made it possible for human to produce a large number of crops in secluded space efficiently. The system would not work on poor and less educated countries such as Zimbabwe, because of the sophisticated nature of the system.
One of the suggestions to tackle the problem is by mass creating a small-scaled plug-and-play hydroponic system to ease the assembly and creation of the system. Hopefully, this could be applied on every household to assist with food production to the community. The size of the system will make it easier and cheaper to maintain, even with little technical knowledge of the device.
The inequality of technological knowledge is seen as the stem of food scarcity in parts of the world despite the advancement in agriculture, but the creation of a proven small-scaled system such as plug-and-play hydroponic system could help to tackle the problem.
Hi Deon!
Great work but some errors with collocations, modal verbs, helping verbs and some informal vocabulary.
But great examples and specificity – keep up the hard work!