Like every Friday, from Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.
This and upcoming weeks we will be looking at the linkages between land, economic growth, and poverty reduction.
Access to and ownership of land is of critical importance to the lives of the poor and in particular for the rural poor, affecting directly their capacity for moving out of poverty. Owners of land have a greater incentive to make that land more productive and thereby increase their welfare. Land as an asset assumes that it can be exchanged through market and non-market channels. For example, land can be used as collateral to raise funds for further investment thus contributing to economic growth and the reduction of poverty. Non-market channels refer to inheritance and land redistribution by the state.
Land inequality is a serious problem in most developing countries, impeding efforts to increase economic growth and rein in poverty. Under these circumstances, the state can play a critical role in achieving socially-desirable land allocation and utilization, in particular where unequal land distribution has served to keep large sections of the population in poverty.
