Cultivating land

Agriculture remains important in the economy of most developing countries, contributing a higher proportion of national GDP, and providing more employment, than in the developed world. However, the area of arable land available per head of population is decreasing in all regions as populations grow: the global availability of cropland has now fallen by some 25 per cent over two decades, from 0.32 hectares per capita in 1975 to 0.24 hectares in 1995 (FAOSTAT 1997).