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.
The magnitude of poverty is also anticipated to increase in Latin America and the Caribbean and in the Middle East and North Africa between now and 2000, but to decline by more than half in East Asia from 182 million in 1985 to 73 million in 2000. Overall, the absolute number of poor people in all developing countries is expected to increase slightly, but their share of the total population will decline from 31 percent in 1985 to 24 percent in 2000 due to population growth. The 2020 Briefs present information on various aspects of the issues.