Monday, January 28, 2013

Pakistan's inequality

5% of large landholders possess 64% of total farmland.  65% small farmers hold 15% of land. 50.8 % of rural households are landless

Tanveer Arif, Chief Executive Officer of Society for Conservation and Protection of Environment (Scope) said “The large land holders have all political powers and economic advantages."

The UAE has purchased 324,000 hectares of farmland in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan in June 2008. Investors from Abu Dhabi bought about 16,000 hectares of farmland in Balochistan. Emirates Investment Group and Abraaj Capital are also investing directly in corporate farming. Such kind of purchasing is a land grabbing which will deprive local people of land and cause food insecurity.

Mehmood, a peasants leader, said that poor people had been compelled to compromise on education of their children, particularly girls due to food and other needs as they could not afford education expenses. He said that poor people in the country spend 60% of their income on food needs while the rich spend 2%. “

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