1
ApEc 8703
Microeconomic Analysis of Economic Development
Lecture 1: Overview of Agriculture in Developing
Countries
I. Introduction
Agriculture plays a key role in development because:
1.
Most people in developing countries live in rural
areas, although the percentage is slowly falling:
1990
2006
Low Income
75%
70%
Middle Income
56%
46%
Low and Middle Income
63%
56%
2.
Poverty rates are higher in rural areas than in
urban areas, which implies that most of the poor
live in rural areas (examples, using national
poverty lines):
Country
Year Urban Poverty
Rural Poverty
Brazil
2002-03
18%
41%
China
1998
< 2%
5%
India
1999-2000
25%
30%
Nigeria
1992-93
30%
36%
