Agriculture is the basic activity to eradicate poverty. However, the problems of agriculture that cause poverty in different nations are different.Therefore, the global intervention in agriculture to eradicate poverty depends on the specific issues prevailing in specific regions.
1. First of all, land reforms are essential so that everybody has access to sufficient land for cultivation to become self sufficient in food production. Therefore, land reforms must be the most significant step to eradicate poverty.
2. Promotion of strong democracy is the most significant political step to ensure people friendly land reforms in poor nations
3. In many poor countries, it is not access of people to land, but the lack of the basic resources for agriculture such as irrigation facilities, agricutural implements, fertilizers, good quality seeds and the like remian the major cause of poor productivity. Developemntal programmes to ensure such resources can eradicate poverty in such situations
4. Strengthening of financial capabilities of village communities through formation of self help groups, microfinance schemes and credit unions are essential to improve agriculture in many village communities.
5. Low price for crops in the season and lack of storage facilities, exploitation by middle men and the like are the serious causes of agricultural poverty in many Asian village communities. Formation of agricultural cooperatives, centralized agricultural storage facilities, state interventions in the market, direct link of urban supermarkets to village cooperatives and the like are very helpful in eradicating such issues of poverty.
6. In many developing and even developed countries, the focus on agricutlrue should change from quantity to quality; that means people are ready to provide more cost for organic products than chemicalized products. Therefore, the income promotion activities in agricultural sector should focus on organic agricultural means.
7. Developed nations can support organic farming procedures in the poor nations and thereby enabling them to get high prize for their products, through which povery can be eradicated
أستاذ دكتور Joseph George Ray