The ILO and rural development

Abstract

More than one half of the working population of the world as a whole is engaged in rural activities. In the developing countries the proportion so engaged is as high as 80-90 per cent; in Africa it is well over 80 percent. The vast majority of peoples in the developing countries' still depend on agriculture for their livelihood more/than on any other occupation, and yet the incomes in this sector are generally much lower than in other occupations. While this is usually indicative of low productivity in agriculture, caused try inefficient utilization of both rural labour, land and capital income distribution too is often extremely unequal with a small minority drawing a major share of rural income, mainly due to the traditional agrarian structure where most of the land is held lay -.a. small minority.