COMCEC Agriculture Outlook 2018
10
In general terms, the share of rural population in total population is decreasing in the OIC as well
as in all sub-regions. Within the sub-regions, the share remained higher in the African Group
with 58.9 percent and the lowest level was Arab Group with 43.7 percent in 2016.
Figure 6. Share of Rural Population in the OIC
Source: Annex 7 and 8
On the other hand, at the individual country level, rural population represented more than 50
percent of the total population in 16 OIC Member Countries. For instance, as of 2016, the share
of people living in rural areas and engaged in agriculture was over 75 percent in some OIC
Countries such as Chand, Niger, Uganda, Tajikistan, and Guyana. As the majority of their
population depending on agriculture for their livelihood, agriculture sector has a vital
importance for the OIC Member Countries in African Group.3
1.3. Agricultural Employment
As many of the developing countries, agriculture is one of the prominent sectors which employs
significant amount of workers in the OIC member countries. The number of people employed in
the agricultural sector in the OIC member countries reached 223 million in 2016. This accounts
for 25.7 percent of the world’s agricultural employment.
In 1990, OIC member countries’ agricultural sector employed almost 199 million people. Up to
2016, 23 million agricultural labor was added, and the number of people employed in
agriculture reached 222 million people (Figure 7).
Even though agricultural employment is getting higher, the proportion employed in agriculture
is decreasing over time. In 1990 agriculture accounted for almost 52.8 percent of total
employment in the OIC, which is higher than the share of world agricultural employment. At the
beginning of the 2000s, the contribution of agricultural sector to total employment decreased to
3 SESRIC, 2014
62,9 60,7 58,4
56,1 53,6
51,1 50,6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0
200
400
600
800
1.000
1.200
1.400
1.600
1.800
2.000
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2016
Percent Million People
Total OIC Rural Population Total OIC Population Share of Rural Population