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Press Release
7 December 2005
Agriculture key to fighting poverty says Benn ahead of World Trade Organisation talks
Increasing agricultural productivity is a vital part of helping to lift poor countries out of poverty, Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, said today, launching a new DFID paper on agriculture.
The new paper "Growth and
poverty reduction: the role of
agriculture"
(290
kb) sets out how developing countries, particularly in Africa,
need a more productive farming sector to help the rest of their economy grow. By
tackling the barriers that farmers face, like improving their access to better
fertilisers, finance and land and creating stronger markets, the lives of
millions of poor people around the world can be changed.
Hilary Benn said:
"Virtually no country whether it's China, India or the UK has become richer and improved the welfare of its people without first achieving progress in agriculture. Growth in agriculture has been shown to create jobs, raise incomes, boost the wider economy and provide affordable food. Reversing recent disappointing trends in agriculture's performance is critical if poor countries are to escape the trap of slow growth and poverty.
"A week before the critical trade talks in Hong Kong, this paper highlights the need for broader, complementary action in developing countries to realise agriculture's full potential. Unless that happens it is unlikely the ambitious UN goal of cutting the number of people living on less than $1 a day by over 500 million will be achieved by 2015."
Mr Benn was speaking at a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development in London.
Notes to Editors
1. 2.5 billion people in developing countries depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The proportion mainly dependent on agriculture ranges from 45% in East and South East Asia to 64% in sub-Saharan Africa.
2. Poor households typically spend 50-80% of their income on food and 80% of the world's malnourished children live in countries that are self-sufficient in food.
3. In 2025, the United Nations (UN) estimates that the global population will be in the region of 8 billion people. Feeding a population of this size will require world cereal production to increase from 2 billion to 3 billion tonnes.
4. Reducing extreme poverty, defined as earning less than $1 a day, is one of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals set in 2000.
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