Changes

====Socio-Economic Impact====

Perhaps the most significant economic impact of the famine was a change like landholding and agriculture. Before the Great Famine, the vast majority of Irish families suffered on farms that were less than two acres. They survived on what they could grow, mostly potatoes. However, after the famine, this was no longer possible. One of the Famine's main impacts was that farms became larger to ensure that they provided families with a sustainable level of income. Many landowners, who mostly lived in London, sought to exploit the situation in the Famine's aftermath. Many of their low tenants had left the land and their farms. The landowners sought to encourage livestock rearing on their estates, which was more profitable. Increasingly, Ireland moved from arable farming to livestock rearing. However, this led to a great deal of unemployment in the country and did not benefit the poor. As a result, Ireland remained a poverty-stricken country.