Agriculture
The food that we eat connects each of us to the world of
agriculture. Farmers and livestock producers in every country
are responsible for most of the supply of food that goes through
grocery stores and markets in towns and cities. Fishing and forestry, too, provide food and fiber important for daily
life. In developing countries, many farm families grow crops
and raise animals for their own consumption. Even in developing countries, rural producers are
finding it profitable to grow grains, vegetables, and fruits
or harvest shrimp and fish that find ready customers in distant
regional or global markets.
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USAID Agriculture programs
benefit farmers
increase their crop yields |
Farmers and other rural producers in developing countries
must continually increase the efficiency, or productivity,
of their farms or animal operations. By increasing the number
of tons of foodgrains produced on each acre of farmland, for
example, farmers can assure that food
supplies are increased
enough to meet the needs of a growing population without running
out of available land or irrigation water. By increasing the
value of their production through their choice of crops (tomatoes,
for example, command a higher price than corn), or by lowering
the cost of production (by using high-yielding varieties of
seeds and fertilizer), rural producers are better able to
sell their output on local, regional or world markets on a
competitive basis. They also earn incomes which will make
it possible for them to continue to invest in their farming
or livestock operations and improve the efficiency of their
production still further.
Increased agricultural productivity is an important goal
for USAID in nearly all the countries in which we work. More
than a billion people today live on less than a dollar a day,
and about 70 percent of these people live in rural areas and
spend all or part of their time farming or raising livestock.
Some also fish or extract wood and other products from the
forests. But even though food production is their business,
they often do not produce enough even for their own families
and many of them go to bed hungry every night. The challenge
of making the agricultural sector much more productive is
a critical one.
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Agricultural research
leads to
more healthy foods |
Government policies must support the ability of farmers and
other rural producers to improve their production. Policies
with regard to land ownership, trade, access to water or other
shared natural resources, and transport are important for
agricultural production and marketing. Governments must also
support research to search for new agricultural
technologies (including improved seeds) and, often, outreach and extension
services that give information about the new technologies
to producers who need them.
Agribusiness, however, is largely responsible for shaping
agricultural markets, processing products into different forms
for different consumers, and assuring a timely flow of agricultural
inputs and financing to support producers. Agricultural cooperatives
are often a useful form of farmer-owned business that enables
small farmers to realize some of the benefits generally associated
with larger-scale businesses.
USAID works with all participants in agricultural development
to support efforts to increase productivity …from
farmers and their organizations (including cooperatives) to scientists
working to develop new, more productive varieties; from agribusinesses
seeking to develop new, profitable markets to governments
providing the sound legal framework within which businesses
can operate; from the schools and universities that train
future farmers and businesspeople to the research labs where
scientists develop new technologies; and from local communities
working to manage their available natural resources for sustainable
production to regional organizations seeking to lower barriers
to trade between countries.
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