It is a commonplace of discussions in this U.N. Population Year that in many developing countries the rate of increase of food supplies is barely keeping up with increase in population, let alone exceeding it to allow a higher standard of nutrition. Crop yields per hectare in many of these countries remain low to very low, yet in nearly all the heavily populated areas of sub-Saharan Africa, for example, crop yields on Government-financed agricultural experiment stations are appreciably higher than on farmers’ fields just outside their boundaries. There are, in fact, a number of examples of experiment station yields being up to 10 times as high under conditions where adequate farm inputs are used, such as improved seed, adequate fertiliser and pest control, and adequate farm machinery to ensure all farm operations are done on time.