In terms of ratios of population to arable land (land under cultivation, fallow land, pastures, and forests), Africa south of the Sahara is said by these supporters of population expansion to have a total of 1.4 billion arable hectares. Land actually being cultivated amounted to only a fraction of this potential. Thus only 12% of all potential arable land is under cultivation, and
this low rural population density is viewed as a serious drawback to raising agricultural output.15 Similar arguments have been expounded with regard to such Latin American countries as Brazil and Argentina.