If farming were to be organised like the stock market, a farmer would sell his farm in the morning when it was raining, only to buy it back in the afternoon when the sun came out.
The country with the highest number of people working in agriculture is India, followed by Indonesia and Ethiopia.
The populations of HongKong, San Marino and Argentina have the lowest proportions of agricultural workers. Out of the 6 countries where more than 70 per cent of the labour force working in agriculture 5 are in Africa, with Madagascar in the lead. Many of the workers, especially in the develpping countries are women. In Burundi around 95 per cent of the female labour force works in the agricultural sector, in ten more countries that rate is over 80 per cent, all of them in Africa or South and South-East Asia.
According to the FAO the agricultural sector ‘is underperforming in many countries in part because women, who are often a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy, face constraints that reduce their productivity. Aggregate data shows that women comprise about 43 percent of the agricultural labour force globally and in developing countries.’
