Average annual growth rates of GNP per capita dipped below -2 percent per year for 11 countries. The 1990s are expected to be better. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to have a slightly positive rate of growth, at 0.3 percent per year, but it is evident that the region will need special attention if it is to achieve growth rates comparable to other developing regions. Considerable changes have taken place in the structure of production in developing countries. It is a source of employment, directly or indirectly, to a majority of the population.
Agricultural growth is essential for economic growth in most low-income developing countries.
The sheer size of the agricultural sector often makes it the only viable lead sector for economic growth. Very few countries have experienced rapid economic growth without agricultural growth preceding or accompanying it. In the past 20 years the countries that achieved the most rapid agricultural growth also had rapid economic growth, while the countries that experienced real declines in agriculture had the lowest economic growth rates. Thus, poor performance in the agriculture sector is more likely to inhibit overall growth in low-income countries than poor performance in other sectors. Poverty is a major consequence of deteriorating or slow economic growth.