Despite the huge growth of urban slums, the majority of
the world's poor still live in rural areas, according
to the World Bank. The organization is trying to
revitalize rural development and held a recent
conference in Washington to further address such issues.
Rural Poverty Facts
About 1 billion of the world's 5.7 billion people live in poverty in rural areas. Of those, 500 million are children. About 40,000 people a day die from hunger-related causes, most in rural areas.
Among developing countries whose economies grew dramatically in the 1980s, most showed rapid agricultural growth in the preceding years, including China, Indonesia and Thailand. Agricultural growth stimulates economic growth in other sectors, which results in increased employment and reduced poverty.
Above photo of washing in a river in India by Curt Carnemark, The World Bank
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