“The agricultural sector employs approximately 70 percent of Togo’s workforce and accounts for 38 percent of the country’s GDP. The sector is dominated by small-scale, rainfed farming of millet, sorghum, maize, and rice. Life expectancy rose from 45 years in 1960 to 57 years in 1990, increasing to about 60 years by 2010. Infant mortality has been reduced by more than half, from more than 250 deaths per 1,000 births in 1960 to about 100 deaths per 1,000 births in 2008. Vaccination of children and urbanization, which increases access to medical and social services, may partly account for these improvements. However, malnutrition among children under 5 years remains high (23.2 percent in 1998). Only 21 percent of the national road network is paved; the feeder roads linking major agricultural areas to potential markets are often impassable, particularly during the rainy season, and some areas remain isolated. The proportion of the population living on less than US$2 a day is 60–70 percent. By 2050, the population is projected to reach 11–15 million people.”
