What are the obstacles to land reform in Pakistan?
We have had land reforms in the past. I think we are heading more towards a free-enterprise economy where people can own anything. The real issue is farmer incomes and farmer productivity, that has to rise. The agricultural sector to me represents the biggest potential of Pakistan. So land reforms are in a sense not the solution to anything. There are those who would argue that large farms are more efficient because these people have more resources. They can invest in capital. A small 12 ½ or 25 acre farmer is sometimes just a subsistence farmer. If you look around the world, economies of scale is the order of the day. So let the market and let the people decide what they want. If somebody wants a large holding, and he can afford it, more power to him. If he cannot, and they have a small holding, then so be it. In any case, the landholdings are coming down as families grow through the hereditary laws, there is a division of land-pools gradually happening. But I think we should be leavi
