Employment

• One way to help poor people out of poverty is to generate employment by adding value to agricultural commodities through processing (Hunger Report 2005, Page 45).
  
  
• Africa:  Farm and rural nonfarm activities are synergistic.  Therefore, the broad development of institutions, infrastructure and facilities in rural areas must be seen in light of how they affect agricultural production and competitiveness.  Countries also must invest in their people by supporting employment training, education and health care, and creating institutions and policies that make ending hunger and poverty an explicit and measurable goal.  In this regard, strategies for improving agriculture must be cognizant of the broader rural development objectives and careful assessments done to ensure addressing one constraint does not create harm for the other, especially relating to environmental sustainability…Thoughtful, innovative ways of tapping into, and intelligently using, local information and experience about local soil conditions, drought cycles, pests and diseases should be sought when formulating region-specific agricultural innovations and support services (Hunger Report 2003, Page 87).  Cross Reference:  African Agriculture, Rural Development, Health Care