At first, this strategy paid off very well. However, with soil erosion, the destruction of the forests, fluctuation in the market prices of the single crop that they were engaged in producing, and with unfavorable weather conditions in some of the planting seasons, the farmers, as a consequence, have accumulated a sizable amount of debts over time, and their livelihoods have been severely affected. It has become quite difficult for them to live comfortably and to stand on their own feet as they and their forefathers did once before.