Changes in the Farm Structures in the Villages

Changes in household ownership of farms in the surveyed villages between 1967-8 and 2004-5 took various forms (Table 41). The change in the number of farms also accompanied a transition in the size of the farms. In 1967-8, about 58 percent of the households had farms which reduced to 41 percent in 1986-7, reaching 28 percent in 2004-5. In contrast, in the last four decades, the absolute number of farms increased almost eight percent; that highlights the frag-mentation of farms and the increase in the rural population in the study area (Table 41). Overall, the average farm size decreased from 4.1 acres in 1986-87 to 2.9 acres in 2004-05; the process of land fragmentation¹¹³ was observed in all of the villages.

112 In addition, some 219 female villagers visited a school for less than four years (for details, see MANIG,1991).

113 The Islamic Law of Inheritance also plays an important role in shrinking of cultivatable land.

Table 41. Transition in Household Farm Related Statistics over the Years Source: Basic survey carried out in six villages of Northwest Pakistan, 2004-05; MANIG,1991.

The changes in the number of farms deviated in the individual villages. The increasing trend in the number of farms viewed in 1987/ 88 reversed in 2004/05 in Kukar and Gulbela (Table 41). In the last two decades, there was less of an increase in Mushtarzai (1.3 percent), while for Yousafkhel and Kochian, the number of farms increased strongly in the range of 21-97 percent. In the present survey, the number of farms in Dalazak remained constant, halting the increasing phenomenon experienced in the 1986/87 survey (see Table 41 & Table 42).

Table 42. Changes in Farm Area, Cultivated Area, and Number of Farms in Study Area

Farm area (acres) Cultivated area (acres)

Villages Year Total Irrigat. Not irrigat. Total Irrigat. Not irrigat.

Number

Source: Basic survey carried out in six villages in 2004–05; MANIG,1991.

The average farm size decreased in all of the surveyed villages, with Yousafkhel experiencing a drastic reduction of 51 percent over the past two decades. This transition as stated before speaks for the pressure on land because of population growth, which justifies the fragmentation of land resulting in an increased number of farms (for a review of changes in the farm sizes and number of farms, see Figure 17).

Figure 17. Changes in Farm Size in the Study Area since 1986-87

Note: Figures above the percentages (farm area) show the total number of farms in a particular farm size category.

Source: Basic survey carried out in six villages of Northwest Pakistan, 2004-05; MANIG, 1991.

Wherever land tenancy was observed, it was based on share tenancy (50-50 share of the agricul-tural produce) while the usufructuary mortgage observed in previous studies (ALBRECHT, 1976;

MANIG, 1991) is almost non-existent currently in the study area. Although sharecropping is a complex arrangement, a typical sharecropping contract requires that the tenant not only bear half the cost of tillage and land preparation, but also half the cost of seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides. In exchange, the tenant receives a 50 percent share in the output from which the share of the costs and any other debts are subtracted. The ‘zamindar’ (landlord) often provides consumption loans to the tenant, and the tenant household provides additional labor services to the ‘zamin-dar’ in return. Using this as a strategy, the landlords usually provide land to large households.

9.2.1 Pattern of Livestock Rearing in the Study Villages

The previous section revealed that there is little farm activity in the study villages, but what little there is, is vital to the livelihoods of the households involved in it. Farming is almost subsistence farming as it is a survival strategy and is not business-oriented. This section further takes this discussion by revealing the trends in livestock ownership¹¹⁴ over the years in the study area.

In some villages, changes in the cropping patterns from subsistence to cash crops and converting pasture land had contributed to a significant fall in the number of livestock (Figure 18). In Mushtarzai, however, the meagre average livestock units of 1.7 remained the same since the last survey in 1986/87; however, the share of households in livestock production decreased to 43 percent (see Figure 18). In Kochian, livestock remained an integral part of the farming and livelihood strategies.

Although the livestock related jobs increased in the last two decades. The fall in livestock farmers in Yousafkhel is mainly because of the rainfed nature of the village. Across the study villages, livestock was an important livelihood asset for the poor. Livestock not only provided meat, milk, fuel, and transport but, also, it acts as a store on which poor people could draw in times of emergencies or economic shocks.

114 Livestock ownership plays a re-enforcing role in virtuous spirals of accumulation, just as its absence contributes to the inability of poorer households to climb onto the first rung of the ‘ladder’ leading out of poverty (KUROSAKI, 1995; A^DAMS, 1996; C^AIN et al., 2007).

Figure 18. Changes in Household Livestock Ownership over the Years

Kukar Yousafkhel Gulbela Kochian Dalazak Mushtarzai All

0

Households with livestock (%) Household with livestock (av. TLU)

51

Households livestock ownership (%) Households livestock ownership (TLU)

Note: A Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU) matches roughly a large cattle unit assuming beef cattle. For details on how to calculate the Tropical Livestock Unit, see Chapter 5.

Source: Basic survey carried out in six villages of Northwest Pakistan, 2004-05; MANIG,1991.

9.2.2 Changes in Crop Production Patterns

The crop production changed considerably over the years in the study villages, as there emerged a decline in traditional crops such as wheat and maize and an increase in ‘kharif’ crops such as vegetables and fodder (for an extensive review of previous farm structure in the area, see ALBRECHT, 1976; MANIG, 1991). Over the years, fruit plantations had almost disappeared from the study villages that formerly grew them as significant cash crops. Ironically, the research area had been a locality for cultivating fruit (MANIG, 1991). Fruit growing has lost its importance as for instance just a single household operated orchards in the area. The villagers stated appearing pests (fruit flies and aphids) and marketing problems as the main causes behind disappearing

orchards in the area. Similar reasons were behind the decline in vegetable cultivation (especially chilies), once a major source of cash income for the rural economy of Dalazak.

The foregoing discussion reveals that the the farm economy is not in a position fully to support the dense population of the region. The high population growth saw in the study area decreases landholding as land has to be continuously subdivided¹¹⁵. Land is not as dynamic as the popula-tion entails a shortage of land with the increased populapopula-tion. Because of the pressure on land, importance of non-agricultural work is steadily increasing. The fact the farmers cannot support their families by farming alone compels the farmers engaging in non-agricultural jobs to supplement farm income and support themselves.