Global community needs to focus on developing rural economy
Daily News | Shirajiv Sirimane
The percentage of people living on less than $1.25 a day fell in South Asia from 61% to 36% between 1981 and 2008. The proportion of poor people is lower now in South Asia than at any time since 1981 said, Dr Turki Faisal Al Rasheed CHOGM
“For 70% of the world’s poor who live in rural areas, agriculture is the main source of income and employment. But depletion and degradation of land and water pose serious challenges to producing enough food and other agricultural products to sustain livelihoods here and meet the needs of urban populations,” he said.
Global community needs to focus on developing the rural economy to encourage the sustainable shared growth vital to provide food security, alleviation of poverty and promotion of economic growth in the rural areas.
“Agriculture has played a key role in the development of human civilization. At the beginning of the 21st century, about one third of the world’s workers are still employed in agriculture. However, the relative importance of farming has declined steadily since the beginning of industrialization and in 2003 for the first time in history the services sector overtook agriculture as the economic sector employing the greatest number of people worldwide,” he added.
“There are more and more people to feed but fewer people working in the agricultural industries. At the same time, agricultural land is being squeezed. Therefore, we must look to sustainable agriculture for the enhancement of food security, alleviation of poverty and promotion of economic growth in the rural areas.” The growing need for sustainable agriculture around the world has fuelled a search for effective ways of delivering it. Sustainable agriculture is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, and is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmers and supports and enhances rural communities.
“It is clear that the global community needs to focus on developing the rural economy to encourage the sustainable shared growth vital to provide food security, alleviation of poverty and promotion of economic growth in the rural areas. The question is how best to achieve this,” he said in conclusion.
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