In less developed countries (LDCs), 3.3 billion (58 percent of 5.7 billion) people and 500 million poor live in rural areas. The rural poor represent about 50 to 70 percent of $1/day poverty in LDCs; about 15 percent of LDC rural people are poor, a larger percentage of poor than for the total LDC population. And in most LDCs, the agricultural population is growing, pressing on limited arable land. Moreover, the rural poor become urban poor as they migrate to densely populated cities in search of jobs.

The late 1980s were the first time in world history that the majority of the world's labor force was engaged outside agriculture. Although only 4 percent of the world's output originates in agriculture, almost half of global labor is in agriculture (World Bank 2003h:48,192).