Open AccessIrrigation Inequalities in Pakistan 1960-1980: A District-level Analysis
Author(s) -
Manzoor Ahmad,
Rajan K. Sampath
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
pakistan development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 0030-9729
DOI - 10.30541/v33i1pp.53-74
Subject(s) - inequality , distribution (mathematics) , irrigation , agriculture , geography , agricultural economics , economics , mathematics , ecology , mathematical analysis , archaeology , biology
This study estimates the magnitudes of inequality in thedistribution of irrigated areas at three points in time and extends thefmdings of Gill and Sampath (1990) using more disaggregated data.Specifically, it provides estimates of the level of inequality in thedistribution of land and irrigation-related attributes amongagricultural households across farm-size groups at provincial anddistrict levels. It decomposes the levels of inequality in each provincein terms of its two major components, namely, "betweendistricts" and"within-district" inequality, and tests a modified "Kuznet" hypothesis,according to which the relationship between the levels of inequality andthe levels of development is an inverted "U". The major findings of thestudy are: There exists considerable inequality in the distribution ofvarious land area variables across farm-size groups in all the districtsof Pakistan, with considerable inter-district variations in their levelsand movements over time; between the "within-district" inequality and"betweendistricts" ineqUality. The former represents 91 percent, 76percent, 75 percent, and 65 percent of total inequalities for Sindh, thePunjab, Balochistan, and the NWFP, respectively. This means that morehas to be done in terms of the irrigation distribution policy than interms of removing the inter-district variations in irrigationdevelopment. And, finally, the modified "Kuznet" hypothesis is valid inexplaining the inter-district variations in the levels of inequality inthe distribution of at least some of the land area variables.