Katiyo tea estate, farming is a primary level activity. Image credit. birdingzimbabwe.com

Katiyo tea estate, farming is a primary level activity. Image credit. birdingzimbabwe.com

ZIMSEC O Level Commerce Notes: The three levels of production

The three levels of production

Primary
is concerned with the extraction of raw materials from the earth’s surface. For example farming and fishing.

Secondary
Is made up of:

  1.  manufacturing or processing– which is the conversion of raw materials into finished or semi-finished goods e.g. smelting of iron ore into iron and the turning of iron into steel are all examples of manufacturing.
  2.  Construction and assembling– this is when individual parts are joined to form new whole units for example bricks are combined with mortar to form houses and buildings and cars are assembled from parts.
  3. Tertiary
    Is made up of services used to aid the other two levels of production:
  •  Commerce:
  • Aids to trade: Transport, Warehousing, Advertising, Banking, Insurance,Communication (These can be memorized using the acronym TWABIC)

Distribution of goods and services and trade.

  • Direct services– provided to consumers directly for example entertainment.

COMMERCE

  • commerce is the distribution of goods and services from the producer to the consumer.
  • It involves Trade (buying and selling) which in turn can be divided into two home and foreign trade.
  • Home trade can be further divided into retail and wholesale trade.
  • Foreign trade can be divided into exporting and importing

To access more topics go to the Commerce Notes page.