agricultural modernisation inevitably leads to farm consolidation and the release of labour which creates a clear employment problem for current small farm operators and farm workers these points to the need for broader rural development initiatives that can provide a more diversified regional economy in rural areas to absorb these released workers this has been the experience of oecd countries over the last years as they increased agricultural output reduced the number of farm workers and increased the financial wellbeing of farm households to close to or even above the level of their urban population