Neglect of agriculture behind Asian poverty

In the last decade, developing economies in Asia and the Pacific doubled in size, growing by over 7 percent on average. This growth has garnered much attention and plaudits. Yet, 641 million of the world's poorest - nearly two-thirds of the global total - live in the Asia-Pacific region.

Other statistics are equally shocking. Ninety-seven million children remain underweight. Four million children die before reaching the age of 5. About 566 million people living in rural areas have no access to clean water. And less than a third of rural inhabitants have access to basic sanitation.

These fault lines question the sustainability and validity of the current development paradigm, which leaves millions of people trapped in extreme poverty, while so much wealth has been generated in such a short time. Most of the poor are in the rural sector and agriculture is their main livelihood. And this is where the problem lies.