Agriculture

Farming Cannot Sustain Livelihood And Worsening Poverty

In developing countries, the majority of people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. However, the scale of agriculture per household is small and productivity is low, making life much more difficult for these individuals compared to urban residents. Purchasing chemical fertilizers and pesticides in an effort to increase yields not only increases expenditures, but also leads to soil degradation. In recent years, global climate change has cast a serious shadow over crop production.
Despite being farmers, their low productivity forces them to buy food, and expenditures are incurred for that. In addition, it is not uncommon for people to borrow money if they need a large sum of money for urgent medical care, weddings, funerals, or other circumstances. If they have to relinquish their own property, such as fields and livestock, to repay the debt, they become trapped in a vicious cycle of further poverty. It is becoming increasingly noticeable that women are the primary workers in the fields, as men have migrated to other countries for cash employment. Increasing the agricultural productivity of small-scale farmers is a major challenge not only in terms of food security, but also in poverty reduction.