Rural poverty is predominantly a problem in Pakistan, with rural people accounting for 90% of the country's poor despite making up only two-thirds of the population. While Pakistan's overall poverty rate declined from 2001-2005, health, education and gender indicators remained low compared to other South Asian countries. Major causes of rural poverty in Pakistan include an unequal distribution of land and water access that benefits only a small fraction of the population, as well as a lack of education, limited healthcare access, environmental degradation, and large family sizes. Improving agriculture, developing non-farm sectors, increasing access to education, redistributing land holdings, and enhancing rural infrastructure are some policy recommendations to help reduce poverty levels in Pakistan.

1. Lecture 19 Factors affecting poverty in Pakistan
Rural povertyin Pakistan
PovertyinPakistanispredominantlyarural problem.While rural people make uptwothirdsof
Pakistan’spopulation,theyaccountfor90 per centof the country’spoorpeople.
From 2001 to 2005, Pakistan’spovertyrate declinedbyabout10 per cent – to 24 per cent.However,
healthandeducationindicatorsremainedlow incomparisonwithothercountriesinSouthAsia,and
socio-economicindicatorsforwomenremainedthe lowestinthe subregion.
CurrentestimatessuggestthatPakistan’spovertyrate hasnotchangedsince 2005. However,itislikely
that recentearthquakes,recordflooding,risinginternational foodpricesandglobal economicinstability
have had a negative,if unmeasured,impact.Forexample,itisestimatedthatinthe lastfew years
roughly17 millionpeople have joinedthe ranksof the 60 millionlivinginfoodinsecurity –withmany
more at risk.
Pakistanranks145th out of 187 countriesonthe UnitedNations DevelopmentProgramme’s2011
Human DevelopmentIndex –a comparative measure of lifeexpectancy,literacy,educationand
standardsof livingforcountriesworldwide.
Agriculture isatthe heart of the rural economyandaccounts for roughly22 per centof Pakistan’stotal
economy.Mostof the landin Pakistanisarid,semi-aridorruggedandnoteasilycultivated.Water
resourcesare scarce throughoutmostof the country,andfindingwaterforirrigationisa critical
challenge forthe agriculture sector –particularlyinremote areas.
Currently,about50 per centof farmersare owner-operatorsand26 percent are tenants.It iscommon
for tenantfarmerstobe indebtto landowners.The exactnumberof landlesswage-labourers,the most
vulnerable segmentof the population,isnotknown.Altogether,there are over4 millionfamilyfarms,
withan average farmsize of 4.7 hectares.Althoughmostrural people relyonagriculturefortheir
livelihoods,manyof the poorestalsodependonnon-farmactivitiesforincome.

2. The incidence of povertyinPakistanvariesfromone provincetothe next.Povertyiswidelyandevenly
distributedinmountainousregions,where communitiesare small,scatteredandisolated,andwhere
there are fewmajorurban centres.The coastal beltand low rainfall areasalsotendtohave a high
incidence of povertyand/orspecificdevelopmentproblems.The ruggedterrainandfragile ecosystems
inthese areasmake farmingdifficult,while lackof accessto marketsandservicescontributesfurtherto
chronicpovertyamonglocal populations.
Those whosuffermostacutelyfromrural povertyare small farmerswithlimitedlandandlivestock
ownership,landlessfarmersandespeciallywomen,whoasa resultof systemicgenderdiscrimination
have little accesstoresources,servicesorassetsof theirown.
A majorcause of rural povertyinPakistanisthe highlyunequaldistributionof assets –particularlyland
and accessto water.As a result,the directgainsinincome fromcrop productiontendto accrue to a
mere fractionof the population.Othercausesof rural povertyinclude the price of food,lackof
education,limitedaccesstohealthservices,large familysize,genderdiscrimination,environmental
degradationanddeteriorationof the natural resource base.
PolicyRecommendations
The analysisundertakeninthisstudyleadstothe followingpolicyimplications
1. Agriculture growthalone withoutanyspecificstrategyisinsufficienttoreduce the level
a. rural poverty;thereforeacomprehensible strategyshouldbe developedtotrickle down
2. the growthat the grass root level.
3. Nonagriculture sectorshould be developedtodiversifythe income sourcesof poor
4. households,because analysishighlightsthe factthatincome andemploymentmultipliers
5. of agriculture growthwere insufficienttoleadtosubstantial gainsinrural formandnon-farm
incomes.
6. Educationshouldbe giventoeveryindividual,becauseeducationplaysavital role inthe
7. exitfrompoverty
8. Land shouldbe redistributed,because the patternof landholdinginPakistanisvery

3. 9. much skewed;andlackof assetsmake itverydifficult forpoorhouseholdstosmooth
10. theirconsumptionsinbadyears.
11. Infrastructure mustbe improved,becauselocationspecificfactorsare alsoinvolvedin
12. determiningthe povertystatus.
13. The resultsshowedthe needof more disaggregatedanalysisandalsothere isneedof
14. more recentdata to capture the recenttrendsinpoverty