Arid Land Development and Combating Desertification in Pakistan - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 222

1.3 Resource Picture

Out of 79.6 million ha area of the country, only 20 million ha are available for
farming. Irrigated agriculture is practiced on 16 million ha and the remaining
4 million ha are under rainfed ( Barani ) farming. A sizeable chunk of the landmass,
about 31 million ha, is under forests and rangelands and /or remains untapped. The
land use data for the last decade shows that the total area under cultivation remained
static (GOP 2003 ).

1.4 Rural Poverty

Poverty is widespread in Pakistan, and is predominantly a rural phenomenon. Nearly
two-thirds of the population lives in rural areas. Most rural poor people depend on
agriculture for their livelihoods. Many have inadequate access to basic services such
as safe drinking water, primary health care, education and other social services.
Poverty rates fell in the 1970s and early 1980s but rose again towards the end of
the 1990s. According to the Government of Pakistan's poverty reduction strategy
paper, currently about 10 % of the population is chronically poor, but a much larger
part of the population (about 33 %) is considered vulnerable and likely to sink
into poverty in the event of an external shock such as drought or earthquake. More
than one-third of the total households in the country were below the poverty line.
The level for some rural areas being close to 40 %. Most of the land in Pakistan
is arid, semi-arid (Fig. 12.1 ) or rugged, and therefore not easily cultivated. Water
resources are scarce throughout most of the country, and providing more remote
rural communities with a reliable water supply is difficult.

1.5 Land-Holding Distribution

The agricultural census data (Table 12.2 ) reveals interesting patterns of land
distribution in Pakistan. Over 80 % of the farms in provinces except Balochistan
are less than 10 ha in size and these occupy about 65 % of the total farm area.
It is important to note that while only 2 % of all farms are of bigger size - more
than 20 ha - they occupy over 14 % of the total farm area. In Balochistan, these
large farms constitute a much larger proportion of all farms and command 46 %
of all farm area. Following are the three general farm /tenure systems practiced in
Pakistan (Table 12.3 ).

1. Farms cultivated by owners.
2. Farms partly cultivated by owners and partly cultivated by tenants.
3. Farms cultivated entirely by tenants (sharecroppers).