It might be better for the environment if the North exchanged the crops for which it is ecologically suited – wheat, for example – for crops easily grown in the South, such as coffee, cocoa, palm oil, and tea. Contrary to common belief, these tropical export crops – which grow on trees and bushes, providing canopy and continuous root structures to protect the soil – are less damaging to the soil than are traditional staples such as cereals and root crops. Better markets for tropical crops could help developing nations to employ their rural populations and to protect their natural resources.