SDC Thematic Working Aid: Agriculture & Food Security

Abstract

Agriculture remains a major source of livelihoods for the poor around the globe. Up to 800 million people and 78 percent of the poor live in rural areas and rely on agriculture to make a living. Agriculture is key to fight hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition for both rural dwellers and for a growing urban population. Despite the centrality of the agri-food sector for inclusive development, this is an area where poverty remains high and inequality is pervasive. Over the last two decades extreme poverty has been globally reduced. Yet, rural areas have lagged behind in reducing extreme poverty while rural poverty rates still exceed those in urban areas. In Mozambique, for example, rural poverty increased during the 2000s, despite this being a period of sustained growth.