Land Reform
Success Hinges On Commitment

By Ganesh Prasad Pandeya

MOST of the world’s poor people earn their living from land assets. An inverse relationship is often found between land holding and poverty incidence and vulnerability. We all know that agriculture in the low-income countries has the potential capacity to produce enough food for a growing population, and to improve the income and the welfare of the poor. Secured access to land is not just about farming but it is considered the most powerful and safest route to productive assets for the stable consumption of the poor by providing food security because their non-farm income activities are severely limited and highly volatile. Land is also central to the lives of the poor, funding everything from social occasions to medical treatment to helping serve as convertible asset for mortgage or collateral. It is also considered as influential aspect of social prestige and socio-political participation; and landlessness usually brings powerlessness in rural areas. The nature of landholding and access to the market has a direct bearing on the extent of lasting benefit and opportunity to improve the livelihoods of the poor.

Successful land reform would be a potent means of reducing income inequality and poverty incidence, restructuring the rural economy and protection of environment. Other options for income equalisation, such as progressive taxation and social security system are more difficult and less effective in the context of a developing economy. Land reform can slow down rural-urban migration, and increase rural farm and non-farm income earning opportunities along with directly benefiting in nutritional and health status, and the level of living standards of the poor. Because of successful land reform in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan they succeeded in rapidly transforming agricultural sector into faster industrialisation; enhanced growth and reduced poverty.

Land reform in Nepal through redistribution and tenancy reform is more urgent today than ever before because income inequality and unemployment in rural Nepal is worsening, and the potential of the green revolution has yet to be tapped. Apropos of equity, it is equally relevant because the bottom 40 per cent of the agricultural households operate only nine per cent of the total farmable land, while top 6 per cent occupy more than 33 per cent; and the inequality index is 0.52 per cent reflecting a highly skewed concentration of land in the hands of few. Unevenly distributed land may exert a pressure for conflict. Many studies reveal the more skewed landholding system, the higher the incidence of poverty and higher social instability. In addition, the smaller the farm size, the higher the productivity: a study by International Fund for Agriculture Development reveals that land productivity of smaller farms is usually at least twice that of the larger ones, and in all cases is at least as productive as larger farms. This was confirmed by farm level data of Indian villages, where a 20 per cent decline in gross output per hectare was associated with doubling a farm size. However, an alternative approach to land reform - commercial farming and consolidation of land – should be applied together where it is possible.

Despite this reality, a recent announcement of land reform by Prime Minister Deuba has received both enthusiastic support and protest in the political, socio-economic market signifying that the task ahead is not easy. Existing constitutional and political hurdles could create further difficulties in the spirit of proposed measures. In addition, although it is easy to show why land reform is a key for reducing poverty, securing access to land, deciding who gets it, and under what conditions remains a contentious issue. Failures of land reform in the past have often been costly by generating conflicts and entailing long term socio-economic and political instability and insecurity. To achieve success from the land reform programme, calculations must not only be economically efficient, but also politically and bureaucratically feasible based on Nepal’s current political capability. In addition, it is not so easy task to correct the land inequality: redistribution of land can disturb the economy by deterring saving including capital flight, impeding growth, and rising fake lawsuits as is presently happening in Nepal.

Land reform should have two-pronged objectives of simultaneous achievement of greater efficiency and more equity, and transformation of the agricultural sector towards industrialisation by enabling the farmers to transform their current subsistence-ridden farming into a dynamic, commercially oriented operation, with crop diversification and intensification, and creation of non-farm employment.

In addition, various interventions are needed simultaneously with the land reform programme to have a perceptible impact in the economy. Some of the key interventions required are: firstly, rural infrastructure - mainly roads, electrification, communication irrigation facility and financial institutions for rural credit. Provision of rural infrastructure will help to peg the rural agricultural-based industrialisation, promotion of cottage industries and the farm-to-market accessibility system. Better access to land accompanied by such facilities can improve the productivity of land and labour for poor with proper incentives and opportunities.

Secondly, efforts towards land reform can hardly be achieved without an honest and properly functioning bureaucracy, a stable institutional framework, an adequate legal and regulatory provision for land administration, and a durable protection of property rights. The existing bureaucracy suffered by maladministration could hardly achieve this overarching goal. If the program cannot succeed to redistribute the land in an apolitical way, the situation of the country will further deteriorate. In order to protect and promote the rights of small peasants in the long term, a cooperative system can be the best solution especially in the rural areas. Thirdly, there needs to be simple, transparent, and uniform rules and regulations: complex rules and exceptions will only increase the benefit to the bureaucratic, and socio-political elites.

Lastly, instead of practice of land confiscation, new approaches to land reform should be adopted which stress an inclusive and market-based approach of bringing together various stakeholders – the landless, landlords, civil society and the government - for the protection of durable property rights. Any land reform measures must respect the right to property granted by the law of the land. A modest rate of compensation should be given to the landlords, and the land acquired from the excess ceiling should be provided to the poor households at the below market price through installment payment system. In addition, the reform system should remove the barriers against women’s possession and control over land, and give them equal access to land.

Although land reform is an important aspect of development in Nepal, it should not be completed at the expense of human capital and industrialisation. Also an egalitarian land reform programme alone does not guarantee the successful agricultural and rural development. The decisive factors for the welfare of the poor are not the land and crops, land holding, but improvement in human capital through health facilities and advancement in knowledge through qualitative education which could significantly enhance the economic prospects and welfare of the people. Low human capital disadvantages, especially for women, explain low productivity and low innovation because human beings have the ability and intelligence to lessen their dependency on cropland and diminishing sources of energy if they have proper education and technology. A healthier population brings reduction in sickness and expansion in productivity which contributes to work, consumption, raises subsequent learning, wage rates, and cuts risk of income lost due to illness.

Similarly, knowledge is the most powerful and innovative engine of production and a means towards a more civilized society. Increases in human capital, as a powerful measure for shifting from physical, capital, technological and employment stagnation, contributes to innovativeness, rural non-farm production and urban works, better opportunities and entrepreneurial ability which is valuable in both agricultural and non-agricultural production. In addition, rapid industrialisation is considered as the key to economic progress: the higher the percentage of population in agriculture, the poorer the country. The transformation from agriculture towards industrialisation is the means of modernisation.

In conclusion, only a programme tailored with these subsidiary policies would initiate the rural agricultural transformation along with the higher multiplier pay off spilling over the non-farm sectors. Only such policies would help the farm and non-farm sector employment and income opportunities. This seems to be an ambitious plan for action. In fact, it is not so. By going ahead with time bound reform process and action plan with strong commitment to development, these goals can be pursued and implemented simultaneously. Though it seems painful in the short term to adhere to simultaneous policies, it could turn out into a ‘blessing in disguise’ in the long-term if the policies are implemented properly.

Rumble In The Himalayas?

By Gyan Rai

THE 2,100 kilometre earthquake fault line which is said to stretch from Kashmir in the east to Bhutan in the west is all set to crack, according to a news item slugged "Rumble in the Himalayas" and carried by the Newsweek (September 3, 2001 issue).

Geologist Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado, Boulder (USA), in his study that was published by the Science journal (August issue, 2001) predicted that not only would these quakes be more powerful than the quake that devastated Bhuj (in the Indian state of Gujarat), but they would occur in a more densely populated areas.

The Gujarat quake, which occurred in January 2000 and measured 7.6 on the Richter scale, reduced the town’s buildings to rubble and took the lives of more than 20,000 people. But the same quake, according to geologist Bilham’s study, is distracting the attention from a region where the greatest loss of life should be expected: the 2,100-kilometre Himalayan arc.

Geologists and seismologists have long identified the 2,100-kilometre long fault line as the site of earth’s greatest continental collision between two massive tectonic plates, the Indian sub-continental plate and the Eurasian continental plate. As the Indian tectonic plate rammed into the Eurasian tectonic plate eons ago, instead of the two gigantic tectonic plates fusing together after the monumental collision, the Indian tectonic plate is still ramming northward into the Eurasian tectonic plate—and hence the 2,100-kilometre long fault line girdling the entire Himalayan range.

Although the Indian tectonic plate’s northward push is slow—about two centimetres per year--energy has been building up over the centuries. Eventually the rock must fracture, predicted geologist Bilham, thereby allowing the Indian tectonic plate to lurch northward beneath the Himalayas. Geologist Bilham, basing his prediction on a re-examination of the region’s seismic history for the last 300 years and on new GPS satellite data, said that such a rapture is overdue. The forthcoming rapture, which would be massive in scale, will not take place at one go. Rather, it would take at least seven massive earthquakes, estimated Bilham and his colleagues. Each tremor will affect a 200 km to 300 km of fault line girdling the entire Himalayas.

Worse still, each quake may have a magnitude of at least 8, depending on the timing and severity of the region’s most recent quake-induced disturbance. According to seismologists, a quake with a magnitude above 5 can inflict considerable damage to life and property.

In such a bleak quake scenario, the question that arises is: what should the concerned authorities of the nations that lie along the 2,100 fault line that runs from Pakistan in the east to Bhutan in the west do?

In such an excruciating situation, there are two possible options for them. One, to heed the Science journal study’s prediction—and take all possible precautions. Two, take the prediction with a pinch of salt—and react only when a quake hits them.

Going by past experiences, it would not be a surprise if these countries’ concerned authorities opt for the latter choice. Leaving aside the 1934 quake that hit Nepal, take the case of the 2045 B.S. (or 1988 A.D) quake that shook the eastern part of Nepal and left many families bereaved and homeless. The concerned authorities, by then, very well knew that the nation straddles an earthquake fault zone. Yet, there were hardly any precautionary measures taken to minimize an earthquake’s impacts as and when it occurred. Nor, for that matter, were there any emergency plans that could be immediately activated to save the people’s lives and properties. For example, codes to regulate the construction of buildings in the urban centres and houses in the rural areas so that these edifices could withstand the shock and after-shocks of an earthquake. Had these codes as well as emergency plans been strictly enforced and promptly activated, many Nepalese would not have lost their precious lives. Studies by seismologists concerning the impacts of earthquakes show that many people loss their precious lives to falling debris and rubble.

Similarly, doctors specialised in emergency medicine and services aver that quake victims tend to loss their lives to after-shocks that invariably set in when they do not receive prompt medical treatment and services. The same could be said of the recent Gujarat quake that took the lives of more than 20,000 people.

One ready reason for the concerned authorities’ ambivalent attitude towards earthquake warnings could be that till date no scientist or seismologist has come up with findings or gadgets that can really predict earthquakes. This inability to predict earthquakes could, in turn, be lulling all, including the concerned authorities, into a false sense of safety. Until, of course, the quake strikes. But, by then, it could be too late, especially in saving precious lives and valuable infrastructure and properties.

Concerning his dire warning, of interest to note is that he and his colleagues had poured through data of earthquakes in the region spanning over 300 years. However, Indian experts are reported to be unfased by geologist Bilham’s widely circulated report. According to the director of the seismological department of the Indian meteorological Department, Virendra Mittal, seismologists need data from thousands of years to make any kind of statistical prediction.

Right now, geologists Bilham and his colleagues are working on earthquake data culled from ancient Tibetan, Urdu and Arabic texts. Scientists, while digging through these ancient texts, have already discovered at least three previously unknown quakes that hit the region. One hit Kashmir in 1555. Another took place in central Himalayas in 1505. A third, of which they have only one unconfirmed account, may have shaken Nepal in 1255.

Be that as it may, there are still many senior citizens in Nepal, particularly in Kathmandu, who can still recall the death and devastation wrought by the massive 1934 earthquake. Over 4,000 Nepalese lost their precious lives and countless priceless monuments and historical palaces were reduced to rubble.

However, the fact that the relief and rescue operations became operational only about one week after the 2045 B.S. quake shook
eastern Nepal, took the lives of at least 1,000 Nepalese and destroyed properties
and infrastructure worth millions of rupees does give the impression that the concerned authorities and the people have yet to not only learn from past experiences but also to give ears to erudite scientists and seismologists’ dire warnings.

As far as Bilham and his colleagues’ prediction is concerned, even if it were to be based on 1,000 to 2,000 years of past earthquakes, there is a 50 per cent chance that a strong tremor would hit a certain region at a specific time. But for a cash-crunched, resource-strapped, landlocked, over-populated and least developed nation like Nepal, even that 50/50 chance can be too devastating an experience.

As such, it looks to reason for the concerned authorities to heed the oft-repeated Nepalese saying "Either you know it yourself or you heed what others’ say". Herein, geologist Bilham’s warning.

Memorable Excursions

By Bhimsen Thapaliya

THE trips to over four dozen places for destination reporting for one and half year was quite a rich experience. Most of the spots were visited for the first time thus offered memorable time hard to be forgotten. Though the destinations visited and observed were in and around the valley of Kathmandu, the impressions and memories gained were widely diverse. The experiences vividly tell the stories of a host of aspects of life and stand as proof of the fact that this valley is day-tripper’s paradise.

The destinations traveled were of attraction for a visitor from different points of view. Some enchanted you with their natural beauty while others offered opportunity to closely look at the interesting local custom and culture. Many of the places of trip were religious sites which mesmerised you with the profundity of the devout life of the people as well as with the sublime works of art and sculpture.

One of the refreshing aspects of these trips was the much sought tranquility and change. They provided a joyous escape from the life that turns tedious with the din and dust of the city. At the visit to each new place, you felt that so much is yet to be seen and experienced that lie so close to you. There are so many spots in and around this ancient valley where one can comfortably ride, cycle, trek or stroll within hours or a day. A stroll to downtown destinations such as Kathmandu Durbar Square can be enjoyed in one or two hours. A hike upto the peak of the Phulchoki, on the other hand, could be a full day’s excursion. Hill resorts like Kakani and Nagarkot posed themselves as symbols of serenity.

The pristine seclusion of the temple of Bajra Yogini above the ancient town of Sankhu, the unique limestone formation of the cave shrine of Bishankhu Narayan north of Godavari, the less talked and heard but archaeologically affluent settlement of Balambu, the ruined forts of Prithvi Narayan Shah on Dahachok hill, valley view from Nagarjun peak and roaring summer waterfalls of Sundarijal were some of the sights that are still deep seated in memory. The visits helped to perceive how different the cursory glance and the attentive observations could be. For instance, most of us have been to the temple of Dakshinkali in Kathmandu’s southern fringe. But many of us are unaware of equally beautiful and sacred shrine of Sesh Narayan that stands on the way.

While the steep ride along the rough graveled road upto the Nagarjun hilltop demanded your firm steering energy, similar bike trip to the Namobuddha above Panauti was not less challenging. Just as the journey was rough, bumpy, dusty and muddy, the destination you arrived at was wonderful and worth the labour. The devout life, the scenery and the first hand experience of the trip helped us to tell the story for the benefit of others aspiring to visit or longing to know how the place really is. One of our western readers, in a letter to this daily, appreciated the description of the destinations. "The first hand information provided in this column is invaluable for visitors like us," he wrote.

Be it the traditional basket weavers of Badikhel or educated youths of Balambu, the locals as we found, were very eager to tell stories about their localities. However, the experience at the old town of Khokana was different. Some of the locals took this scribe as the election campaigner of a certain party. May be it was because the visit coincided with election time. Upon a brief interview with the priest of a local temple, some locals came and started a heated dispute. "You people visit with your projects when the elections are around," one man chided. Within a few minutes the crowd started a brawl.