Inclusive Agricultural Growth in Pakistan—Understanding Some Basic Constraints

Sohail Jehangir Malik, Asjad Tariq Sheikh and Amir Hamza Jilani
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Sohail Jehangir Malik: Chairman of Innovative Development Strategies (Pvt.) Ltd, Pakistan/USA and Senior Policy Advisor at IFPRI’s Pakistan Strategy Support Programme, Islamabad, Pakistan
Asjad Tariq Sheikh: Research Assistant at IFPRI’s Pakistan Strategy Support Programme, Islamabad, Pakistan
Amir Hamza Jilani: Graduate Student at Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA

The Pakistan Development Review, 2016, vol. 55, issue 4, 889-903

Abstract: Inclusive agricultural growth is important for overall economic growth and particularly critical for rural socio-economic stability and poverty reduction in Pakistan. The majority of Pakistan’s population and 44 percent of the overall labour force are dependent upon agriculture which only accounts for a little over 20 percent of national GDP. The paper highlights some basic constraints that have not been explicitly addressed in the policy research and implementation and have impeded inclusive agriculture growth. A descriptive analysis based on data from the Agriculture Census of Pakistan and the Pakistan Household Income and Economic Survey—both of which were conducted in 2010-11—is used to show how high levels of poverty and its disparity across regions, combined with the declining size of operated holdings and associated fragmentation especially in the smallest size categories which now form over 60 percent of the agricultural holdings in Pakistan, are fundamental constraints. Poverty is both the result as well as the consequence of fragmented markets, weak institutions including governance; and, inadequate policy research and implementation. A better research based policy understanding of some basic constraints, and the variations across regions in such factors such as the declining size and fragmentation of operated farms, rural poverty; and, the levels of market development and institutions is essential along with effective implementation. One size fits all policies have not and will not work

Keywords: Inclusive Growth; Land Holding; Land Tenure; Income Distribution; Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I32 O40 P46 Q15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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