The Role of Land Reform in Economic Development: Policies and Politics

Abstract

As the extensive literature on the subject attests, the issue of land reform has been and remains heatedly debated.1 The latest massive demonstration of interest came with the 1979 World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, where representatives of no less than 145 nations and three liberation movements agreed that equitable distribution and efficient use of land ... are indispensable for rural development, for the mobilization of human resources, and for increased production for the alleviation of (FAO). At one time or another, but especially since 1960, virtually every country in the world has passed land reform laws. Yet, the record is far more modest than the promise: (a) in spite of decades, if not centuries (Tuma), of land reform activities, landownership remains extremely skewed, concentration of landownership is almost universally increasing, the mass of landless is growing rapidly, and the extent of rural poverty and malnutrition has reached horrendous proportions; and (b) in spite of widespread agreement on the need for land reform, there are virtually no significant ongoing land reform programs except under extreme political pressures (revolutionary in El Salvador and postrevolutionary in Nicaragua, Mozambique, and Angola). In several countries, the progressive gains achieved by land reform programs are being either eroded by the forces of economic growth (Mexico, Venezuela, and South Korea) or purposefully canceled by public policies (Chile). The question I want to explore in this paper is: Why this blatant discrepancy between rhetoric and reality? Or, to put it another way, why is land reform no longer a significant policy issue even though it remains an important political issue in most countries of the world?2 To answer, we need first to explore, in a positive sense, what has been the nature of different land reforms that occurred in the past; what were their purposes, achievements, and limits. This will be done by developing a typology of land reforms in the third world, because it is essential to distinguish carefully among a wide variety of reforms. Following the approach of political economy, I will do this in the context of modes of production, social class structure, and types of land tenure.