Many trade diplomats consider the money value of market turnover to be an appropriate indicator of the weight of agriculture relative to other sectors of the economy. As the share of agriculture in GNP decreases with conventional development until it reaches a meager 3%-5% in industrial countries, farming is frequently perceived as a sector that is fading into insignificance. However, this conclusion is hardly more convincing than the one which says that the human heart, given its share of 2-3% in body weight, is unimportant for the organism.

 
Indeed, the importance of agriculture reaches much beyond the sector’s share in GNP or, for that matter, its export value. Agriculture underpins the availability of common goods in both the natural and the social sphere. Ecologically, it is mainly through agriculture that humans exercise their metabolism with nature. On the one hand, they (humans) profoundly modify species, watercourses, landscapes, while on the other hand, they receive vital resources and life-sustaining services. For better or worse, agriculture largely shapes the natural commonwealth. And, socially, agriculture is the mainstay of the rural world, but the rural world comprises much more than just agriculture. Agriculture is the foundation of rural economy, which may include the subsistence economy, the informal sector, and small businesses, along with local industries. It is also is the foundation of rural culture that may encompass community relations, construction styles, festivities, and worldviews. Agriculture is not just a business; it is a way of life. On both accounts, the economic value of agriculture is miniscule with respect to its ecological and social value.

 
Unless trade rules are designed in a way that they foster a rise of sustainable agriculture in this broader sense, they will not be up to the historical challenge, and will end up damaging both the environment and the economic prospects of developing countries.