Sudan is endowed with large expanses of arable land, estimated at 80 million hectares-the largest in Africa. It has abundant supplies of water. Its livestock asset (estimated at 63 million heads) is the second largest in Africa, surpassed only by neighboring Ethiopia. The country's economy, hence, is almost entirely based on the agricultural sector. In 1993-1994, agriculture generated nearly 40 percent of the gross domestic product. The industrial sector, which is mostly agricultural-based, accounted for about 17.5 percent of the gross national product. The agricultural sector is also the source of virtually all ofthe country's export earnings. About four-fifths of the labor force ofthe country earns its living from farming and animal husbandry. The country, however, is increasingly impoverishing its agricultural resources through the promotion of environmentally destructive modes of production.