While policy makers, media, and the international community focus their attention on Pakistan’s ongoing security challenges, the potential of the rural economy, and particularly the agricultural sector, to improve Pakistanis’ well-being is being neglected. Agriculture is crucial to Pakistan’s economy. Almost half of the country’s labor force works in the agricultural sector, which produces food and inputs for industry (such as cotton for textiles) and accounts for over a third of Pakistan’s total export earnings. Equally important are nonfarm economic activities in rural areas, such as retail sales in small village shops, transportation services, and education and health services in local schools and clinics. Rural nonfarm activities account for between 40 and 57 percent of total rural household income. Their large share of income means that the agricultural sector and the rural nonfarm economy have vital roles to play in promoting growth and reducing poverty in Pakistan.

Rural development remains a major challenge for governments of developing countries such as Pakistan. While a broad range of state and donor interventions impact the lives of poor farmers -who provide a significant proportion of the labour force - comprehensive consideration of these combined interactions remains inadequate. Focussing on Pakistan, this book discusses the political economy of agrarian poverty and underdevelopment in the region. The book provides an in-depth exploration of the combined impact of state and donor interventions, as well as that of resistance attempts, to alter the status quo within Pakistan. It questions the relevance of state institutions and policies contending with the problems of farmers in Pakistan, and how donor-led policies and programmes also influence their lives. It draws on findings that have emerged from interviews of over 200 respondents including government officials, donor agency representatives and different categories of poor farmers, during eleven months of fieldwork in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. This research reveals some divergences between state and donor policies, but it finds more prominent convergences, which in turn enable the landed rural elite to benefit from market-based and capital-intensive processes of agricultural growth, without offering substantial opportunities for poor farmers. Reflecting the need to become less insular when discussing solutions to rural development, and demonstrating how state policies and institutions can interconnect with donor funded programmes, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Politics and Development Studies.

The Economic Survey is the budget document of the Government of India. It presents the state of affairs of the Indian economy. Economic Survey 2017-18 consists of two volumes. Volume I provides an analytical overview of the performance of the Indian economy during the financial year 2017-18. It highlights the long-term challenges facing the economy. Volume II is a descriptive review of the major sectors of the economy. It emphasizes economic reforms of contemporary relevance like GST, the investment-saving slowdown, fiscal federalism and accountability, gender inequality, climate change and agriculture, science and technology, among others.

This book takes forward our understanding of agricultural input subsidies in low income countries.