Agrarian reform law 1981 was constituted with the aim of proper regulation and development of the Nicaraguan agrarian system . The agrarian reform law was publicly declared on 19th July, 1981. It was the day of second anniversary of Nicaraguan revolution.
Necessity of Agrarian Reform Law 1981
The major portion of agricultural land in Nicaragua were owned by very few people. Statistics revealed that about 1.2 percent of the Nicaraguan people owned about 47.1% of land, whereas about 30% of the rural agrarian population were either landless or were working as tenant farmers. As a result, Nicaraguan government thought to enact agrarian reform law to distribute agricultural land among the landless farmers.
Agrarian Reform Law 1981: Nicaragua
The agrarian reform law in Nicaragua facilitated distribution of agricultural land to a large number of farmers. The law also helped large landowners in protecting their property rights. One of the basic characteristic of the Agrarian Reform Law 1981 was that it did not impose any restriction on the size of land that one may hold. The law also facilitated distribution of the abandoned and unused agricultural land. The law also tried to abolish the land tenure system from Nicaragua.
A summary of Agrarian Reform Law: Nicaragua
The agrarian reform law mainly discussed about:
Formation of Cooperatives
Land subject to expropriation
Recipients of agricultural land
Implementation procedure of agrarian reform
Formation of Cooperatives: The agrarian reform law facilitated in formation of cooperatives by the farmers and agricultural workers. The agrarian reform law also promoted the abolishment of pre- capitalism( like tenant farming) from Nicaragua.
Land Subject to Expropriation: This law confirmed the idea of expropriation. The categories of land that were scheduled to be expropriated were:
All abandoned land
Land used for tenant cultivation
Idle land
Agricultural Land rented out for profit
Recipients of the agricultural land: According to agrarian reform law agricultural land were distributed among persons and organizations according to the following priority list:
1. Poor farmers
2. Farmers with inadequate land
3. Individual cultivators
4. Agrarian Reform Enterprises