Fact Sheet: Agriculture and Poverty in Developing Countries
- More than two-thirds of all people surviving on less than US $1 a day live and work in rural areas either as smallholder farmers or as agricultural laborers. (UNDP, Human Development Report 2005)
- Agriculture accounts for 17 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in middle-income countries, and upwards of 35 percent in the poorest countries. By contrast, agriculture in rich countries typically accounts for less than 2 percent of the economy.
Sub-Saharan Africa:
- The proportion of Sub-Saharan Africans living on less than $1 a day increased from 44.6 percent to 46.4 percent between 1990 and 2001, respectively. (United Nations, Millennium Development Goals Report, 2005)
- Nearly 65 percent of Africans depend on agriculture as their primary source of livelihood. Smallholder farmers account for more than 90 percent of agricultural production.
South Asia:
- Extreme poverty decreased markedly in South Asia over the past decade. The proportion of people living on less than $1 a day fell from 39.4 percent in 1990 to 26.9 percent in 2001. (United Nations, Millennium Development Goals Report, 2005)
- Most of the poor in South Asia are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and survival. Approximately 60 percent of the labor force is involved in agriculture and the sector accounts for 23 percent of GDP.
Latin America and the Caribbean:
- The proportion of people living on less than $1 a day in Latin America and the Caribbean fell from 11.3 percent in 1990 to 9.5 percent in 2001. (United Nations, Millennium Development Goals Report, 2005)
- Rural activities (primary agriculture, forestry and fisheries) accounted for 12 percent of the average national GDP of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2000, but when food processing industries are included, the region's average agricultural share rises to over 21 percent of GDP. (World Bank, Beyond the City: The Rural Contribution to Development, 2005)
Sources: International Food Policy Research Institute (unless otherwise noted)