The environment surrounding agricultural and rural development has been diversifying because of such factors as the rapid advance of globalization, climate change, skyrocketing food prices, growing demand for biofuels, changing food preferences as personal incomes rise, the expanding participation of the private sector, global competition for farmland, and post-conflict rehabilitation. As in many developing countries, farmers account for the majority of the population and three-fourths of impoverished people live in rural areas, rural residents in developing countries are greatly affected by these changes.