Alternative livelihoods such as ecotourism and fish farming could provide an alternative to intensive crop farming, while better management of crops and irrigation and the adoption of alternative energy sources such as solar power would all contribute to environmental sustainability.

CNN: Growing deserts 'a global problem'

Indeed, this is a place where you can be inspired about the possibility of a world where organic farming and alternative energy sources help to salvage the fine mess we have made of the planet .

BBC: Lonely Planet��s top 10 spots in Central America

Brazil represents a clear alternative to the growing belief that, in farming, small and organic are beautiful.

ECONOMIST: Brazil's agricultural miracle

Yet the alternative, in most cases, is stark: they would be unable to stay in farming.

ECONOMIST: Preserving farmland