Current estimates of population growth over the next 25 years in Rwanda predict rural population densities of between 1,000 and 1,500 inhabitants per square kilometer and farms of less than one hectare, which will have to support 8 to 12 people. These demographic pressures will involve a breakdown of traditional systems of production and land utilization that will inevitably lead to the destruction of the land's productive capacity. Apart from a rapid control of fertility, the only viable solution appears to be the agricultural development of the catchment zones in order to lessen the demographic pressures on the slopes.