Progress in agriculture moves at different rates around the globe. In some places, it moves swiftly. In others, the pace is slow. But everywhere, people depend on farmers to provide the necessities of food and clothing.

Since the 1800s, new machines, chemicals, and farming methods have been making farms more and more productive. Now, the farms in western' Europe produce the greatest amount of food per acre in the world. Farmers in the United States are also very productive. In this country, an average farmer produces enough food to feed 78 people.

Many countries are still looking for ways to help themselves grow more food. In 1995, the United Nations began helping farmers in Eritrea. These farmers began using fertilizers, new farming techniques, and better seeds. By 1997, many farmers in Eritrea were able to grow two to four times more wheat than before. But experts are still searching for ways .to help Eritrea. For example, because Eritrea gets little rain, scientists are searching for crops that grow quickly and resist droughts.

In northern Uganda, farmers now have a better way to harvest the cassava root, which is their most important crop. Until recently, it took a week to cut, peel, wash, and dry a bitter cassava root. Farmers did this to get rid of a poison called cyanide, which is in the roots. But now, with hand-held tin graters (粗齿木锉)，farmers can make a cassava root safe to eat in just one day. This is an important change, because sometimes people in Uganda arc dying of hunger. They cannot wait one week for a cassava root.

The same farming improvements do not help everywhere. Some countries, like Senegal, need irrigation systems to distribute water. Other countries, like Eritrea, need machinery (机器) that can process larger amounts of crops at a time. In each place that people are hungry, people will need a different solution.