ABSTRACT
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for an estimated 86 per cent of the three billion rural people in developing countries (World Bank 2008). About 70 per cent of the world's poor people reside in rural areas and live on less than $1.25 per day (IFAD 2010). Agriculture plays a critical role in efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition and to improve the living standards of the rural poor, including smallholders and landless workers.
