Chapter 3


per se, their employees are), and many consume on the basis of what could be referred to as
multiple entitlements. For example, a farm household may have a production-based
entitlement, from the food it produces itself. This could be in the form of millet and maize.
Some of the millet could be sold for brewing to provide income, and hence a trade-based
entitlement, used to purchase meat and vegetables. One member of the family could work
on a neiglbouring farm, and another could engage in small-scale food trading, resulting in
own-labour entitlements, part of which could be used to purchase more grain. All these
entitlements result directly from food commodity chains, and could be supplemented further
by entitlements, such as remittances from extended family members working in urban areas,
which are not an output of the food system.

As Table 3.2 shows, in all major regions of the world, the population is becoming more
urbanised. Only in Europe is the rural population actually declining, but in South America
the rural population is static. Equally, in all regions, the agricultural population is growing
at a slower rate than the rural population, and in Europe and South America, the rural
population is declining. This means that, in relative terms, fewer people are growing their
own food, and are increasingly dependent on some kind of commodity chain for their food
security. More and more people in rural areas earn their living outside of agriculture, so the
marketing system is required to distribute an increasing amount of food not just from rural
areas to the towns and cities, but also to distribute commodities within rural areas. In some
countries, more and more the marketing system has to move imported food from the ports or
land points of entry into the countryside.


Table 3.2 1993 Population and Rate of Population Growth, 1961-1993


Million


Region Total Urban Rural Population Agricultural
 Population Population Sector Population

Africa 702 235 467 413
 (2.8) (4.7) (2.2) (2.0)
America, North 442 320 127 55
& Central (1.5) (1.8) (0.7) (0.1)
America, South 310 238 71 68
 (2.3) (3.5) (0.0) (-0.1)

Asia 3,292 1,083 2,210 1.834
 (2.1) (3.5) (1.6) (1.2)

 Europe 505 376 129 38
 (0.5) (1.0) (-0.7) (-3.3)

 Oceania 28 20 8 4
 (1.7) (1.8) (1.4) (0.5)

Source: FAO, Agrostat.


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