The demands for food to meet the expanding global population are growing faster than the ability of food producers to meet those demands. Increases in food production will have to come from increasing biological yields, and not from area expansion and more irrigation. Much, but not all, of the increase will occur in developing countries, and there will be many more mouths to feed in complex circumstances. Food production capacity is widespread and substantial, yet millions are too poor to provide for their essential needs. Some 40,000 people die from hunger-related causes every day.
Agricultural growth is essential to economic growth in most developing countries.
Very few low-income countries have achieved rapid nonagricultural growth without corresponding rapid agricultural growth. Conversely, most of the developing countries that grew rapidly during the 1980s experienced rapid agricultural growth in the preceding years. Agriculture, moreover, is the primary interface between people and the environment. So agricultural transformation will be essential to meet the global challenges of reducing poverty, feeding the world's burgeoning population, and protecting the environment. This transformation will have to occur at the level of small-holder farmers so that their complex farming systems can be made more productive and efficient in the use of resources.