Agrarian Reform in the World

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 21 April 2010

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reform refers to the transformations made in the agricultural sector of a country, for its overall growth and development. Agrarian reform in the world indicates land reform programs formulated and implemented in different countries across the world, for the overall growth and development of their agricultural sector.

Agrarian Reform in the World:

Reform programs implemented in some of the countries across the globe are mentioned and briefly illustrated below. They will offer an insight into the nature and kind of reforms, which can improve the status of the agrarian sector.

  • Venezuela: In the Latin American country of Venezuela, agrarian reform occurred in three phases. In the initial stage, the land reform programs introduced to abolish the imbalances existing in the Venezuelan agricultural sector, but failed completely. This was because they tried to do everything except allotting land to the peasant classes and offering them technical and marketing assistance, which were the fundamental requirements for initiating development in this sector.

    The year 1960 may be regarded as the second phase of agrarian reform in Venezuela. It was during this period that land reform programs were once again undertaken with financial support from the United States of America. Rather than solving the persisting problems of the Venezuelan agrarian sector, these reforms made the nation economically dependent on other countries, by increasing its external loans.

    It was ultimately from 1990 onwards, that land reform programs were formulated and successfully implemented during the reign of President Hugo Chavez. For the matter, a new Constitution was approved which restored the landless peasant families with rights to land, assuring them food security as well. Moreover, a law was also enacted, to restrict the size of land and impose taxes on non arable land. All these measures ultimately enhanced the agricultural output in Venezuela and did justice to the long-oppressed farmers.

 

  • Ethiopia: In the African nation of Ethiopia, land reform programs were essential to restore fertility to the arable lands, destroyed due to successive droughts and famines. In fact, land reform measures were formulated and implemented in Ethiopia at a much later stage, during the 1960s. It was under the initiative of different sections of the Ethiopian society, especially students, that the government was forced to initiate reform measures in the agricultural sector of Ethiopia, by nationalizing the rural lands, abolishing land tenancy system completely, bringing all the commercial lands under state control and allowing the ownership of ten hectares of land at the most. All these reform programs were highly welcomed by the peasants residing in the southern part of the country, as it freed them from the oppression of the landlords and paying high land rents to them. It was these agrarian reform programs, which ultimately improved productivity in the agrarian sector of Ethiopia.
     

 


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