Please wait a minute...
Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2023, Vol. 22 Issue (12): 3610-3623    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.11.028
Special Focus: Accelerating Rural Transformation in Asian Developing Countries Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Developing strategy for rural transformation to alleviate poverty in Pakistan: Stylized facts from panel analysis
ABEDULLAH*#, Shujaat FAROOQ*, Farah NAZ
Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Download:  PDF in ScienceDirect  
Export:  BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      
Abstract  Sustainable income growth and poverty reduction remain critical challenges at the forefront of research in Pakistan, particularly in rural areas. To overcome these challenges, the role of rural transformation (RT) has emerged and gained importance in recent years. The present study is based on district-level data and covers the period from 1981 to 2019. The study attempts to quantify the role of rural transformation in boosting rural per capita income and alleviating rural poverty in the country. The study also aims to explore the impact of stages of rural transformation on rural per capita income and rural poverty alleviation. The empirical findings reveal that rural transformation (RT1 and RT2) is essential in enhancing rural per capita income and alleviating rural poverty. The role of the share of high-value crops (RT1) is more pronounced than the share of non-farm employment (RT2) in boosting rural per capita income and poverty alleviation. The trend of larger contribution of RT1 to enhance rural per capita income also continued at 2nd stage of rural transformation. In the case of poverty reduction, at 3rd stage of rural transformation, the role of RT2 is dominant. Our results indicate that districts at higher stages of rural transformation (both RT1 and RT2) tend to correlate positively with increased rural per capita income and reduced poverty rates, suggesting that progress in rural transformation is associated with improved economic conditions. However, it is important to note that this correlation does not necessarily imply a direct causal relationship between rural transformation and these economic outcomes; other factors may have influenced this relationship. In addition, the welfare impacts are more noticeable among the districts where a simultaneous shift from grain crops to cash crops and from farm employment to non-farm employment is observed. The study provides baseline information to learn experiences from fast-growing districts and to replicate the strategies in other districts, which boosts the RT process that may increase rural per capita income and enhance poverty reduction efforts.
Keywords:  rural transformation       rural income        rural poverty        agriculture        panel analysis  
Received: 28 February 2023   Accepted: 09 November 2023
About author:  #Correspondence HUANG Ji-kun, E-mail: jkhuang.ccap@pku.edu.cn

Cite this article: 

ABEDULLAH, Shujaat FAROOQ, Farah NAZ. 2023. Developing strategy for rural transformation to alleviate poverty in Pakistan: Stylized facts from panel analysis. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 22(12): 3610-3623.

Anderson K, Huang J K, Ianchovichina E. 2004. Will China’s WTO accession worsen farm household income? China Economic Review15, 443–456.

Barrett C B, Christian P, Shiferaw B A. 2017. The structural transformation of African agriculture and rural spaces: introduction to a special section. Agricultural Economics48, 5–10.

Belton B, Filipski M. 2019. Rural transformation in central Myanmar: by how much, and for whom? Journal of Rural Studies67, 166–176.

Cai F, Wang M Y. 2010. Growth and structural changes in employment in transition China. Journal of Comparative Economics38, 71–81.

Dawe D. 2015. Agricultural transformation of middle-income Asian economies: diversification, farm size and mechanization. ESA Working Paper, 15–04.

Fan S G. 1997. Production and productivity growth in Chinese agriculture: new measurement and evidence. Food Policy22, 213–228.

Fan S G, Cho E E, Rue C. 2018. Returns to public agricultural and rural investments in China. China Agricultural Economic Review10, 215–223.

FAO. 2017. The State of Food and Agriculture: Leveraging Food System for Inclusive Rural Transformation. FAO, Rome.

Gao L L, Huang J K, Rozelle S. 2012. Rental markets for cultivated land and agricultural investments in China. Agricultural Economics43, 391–403.

Huang J K. 2018a. Facilitating inclusive rural transformation in the Asian countries. World Food Policy4, 31–55.

Huang J K. 2018b. Key issues on supply-side structural reform in agriculture: government functions and market roles. Chinese Rural Economy2, 2–14. (in Chinese)

Huang J K, Ding J P. 2016. Institutional innovation and policy support to facilitate small-scale farming transformation in China. Agricultural Economics, 47, 227–237.

Huang J K, Rozelle S. 1996. Technological change: the re-discovery of the engine of productivity growth in China’s rice economy. Journal of Development Economics49, 337–369.

Huang J K, Rozelle S. 2006. The emergence of agricultural commodity markets in China. China Economic Review17, 266–280.

Huang J K, Rozelle S. 2018. China’s 40 years of agricultural development and reform. In: Garnaut R, Song L, Cai F, eds., China’s 40 Years of Reform and Development: 1978–2018. Australian National University Press, Canberra. pp. 487–506.

Huang J K, Shi P F. 2021. Regional rural and structural transformations and farmer’s income in the past four decades in China. China Agricultural Economic Review13, 278–301.

Huang J K, Wang X B, Zhi H Y, Huang Z R, Rozelle S. 2011. Subsidies and distortions in China’s agriculture: evidence from producer-level data. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics55, 53–71.

Huang L J, Ma X D. 2018. Spatial coupling cooperative analysis of economic development and rural transformation in Jiangsu Province. Economic Geography38, 151–159. (in Chinese)

IFAD. 2016. Rural Development Report 2016: Fostering Inclusive Rural Transformation. IFAD, Rome.

Imai K, Gaiha R, Bresciani F. 2019. Dynamics of rural transformation and poverty and inequality in Asia and the Pacific. In: Greve B, eds., International Handbook of Poverty. Routledge, London. pp. 185–201.

Jin S Q, Ma H Y, Huang J K, Hu R F, Rozelle S. 2010. Productivity, efficiency and technical change: measuring the performance of China’s transforming agriculture. Journal of Productivity Analysis33, 191–207.

Li H B, Li L, Wu B Z, Xiong Y Y. 2012. The end of cheap Chinese labor. Journal of Economic Perspectives26, 57–74.

Li S P, Dong Y Q, Zhang L X, Liu C F. 2021. Off-farm employment and poverty alleviation in rural China. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 20, 943–952.

Li Y R, Liu Y S, Long H L. 2011. Study on the pattern and types of rural development in the Huang-Huai-Hai region. Geographical Research30, 1637–1647. (in Chinese)

Lin Y F. 1992. Rural reforms and agricultural growth in China, American Economic Review82, 34–51.

Liu S Y, Wang R M, Shi G. 2018. Historical transformation of China’s agriculture: productivity changes and other key features. China & World Economy26, 42–65.

Liu Y, Barrett C B, Pham T, Violette W. 2020. The intertemporal evolution of agriculture and labor over a rapid structural transformation: Lessons from Vietnam. Food Policy94, 101913.

Liu Y S, Guo Y Z, Zhou Y. 2018. Poverty alleviation in rural China: policy changes, future challenges and policy implications. China Agricultural Economic Review10, 241–259.

Liu Z H, Yang P, Wu, W B, You L Z. 2018. Spatiotemporal changes of cropping structure in China during 1980–2011. Journal of Geographical Sciences28, 1659–1671.

Long H L, Zou J, Li T T, Liu Y S. 2012. Study on the characteristics and territorial types of rural transformation development: the case of ‘Southern Jiangsu–Northern Shaanxi’ transect. Geographical Research31, 495–506. (in Chinese)

McMillan J, Walley J, Zhu L J. 1989. The impacts of China’s economic reforms on agricultural productivity growth. Journal of Political Economy97, 781–807.

Min S, Liu M, Huang J K. 2020. Does the application of ICTs facilitate rural economic transformation in China? Empirical evidence from the use of smartphones among farmers. Journal of Asian Economics70, 101219.

NBSC (National Bureau of Statistics of China). 2020. China Statistical Yearbook. China Statistical Press, Beijing. (in Chinese)

Otsuka K, Zhang X B. 2021. Transformation of the rural economy. In: Otsuka K, Fan S G, eds., Agricultural Development: New Perspective in a Changing World. IFPRI, Washington, DC. pp. 359–396.

The State Council. 2015. Several Opinions on Establishing and Improving the Provincial Governor Responsibility System for Grain Security. State Council Policy Document. (in Chinese)

Timmer C P. 2009. A World Without Agriculture: the Structural Transformation in Historical Perspective. AEI Press, Washington, DC.

Timmer C P. 2017. Food security, structural transformation, markets and government policy. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies4, 4–19.

Timmer C P, Akkus S. 2008. The structural transformation as a pathway out of poverty: analytics, empirics and politics. Center for Global Development Working Paper, 150.

Wang J X, Zhu Y Y, Sun T H, Huang J K, Zhang L X, Guan B Z, Huang Q Q. 2020. Forty years of irrigation development and reform in China. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics64, 126–149.

Wang W L, Yu C C, Shui W, Wu P Q, Wang Q F. 2019. Research on spatio-temporal pattern of specialized development of Chinese planting industry. Geographical Research38, 1265–1279. (in Chinese)

Wang X B, Yamauchi F, Otsuka K, Huang J K. 2016. Wage growth, landholding, and mechanization in Chinese agriculture. World Development86, 30–45.

Wang Z Y, Sun S Z. 2016. Transportation infrastructure and rural development in China. China Agricultural Economic Review8, 516–525.

Yang J, Huang Z H, Zhang X B, Thomas R. 2013. The rapid rise of cross-regional agricultural mechanization services in China. American Journal of Agricultural Economics95, 1245–1251.

Yi Q, Chen M Y, Sheng Y, Huang J K. 2019. Mechanization services, farm productivity and institutional innovation in China. China Agricultural Economic Review11, 536–554.

Zhang L X, Dong Y Q, Liu C F, Bai Y L. 2018. Off-farm employment over the past four decades in rural China. China Agricultural Economic Review10, 190–214.

[1] YU Wen-jia, LI Hai-gang, Peteh M. NKEBIWE, YANG Xue-yun, GUO Da-yong, LI Cui-lan, ZHU Yi-yong, XIAO Jing-xiu, LI Guo-hua, SUN Zhi, Torsten MÜLLER, SHEN Jian-bo. Combining rhizosphere and soil-based P management decreased the P fertilizer demand of China by more than half based on LePA model simulations[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2023, 22(8): 2509-2520.
[2] Maria Fay ROLA-RUBZEN, Hue T. VUONG, Claire DOLL, Curtis ROLLINS, Jon Marx SARMIENTO, Mohammad Jahangir ALAM, Ismat Ara BEGUM. Gender and rural transformation: A systematic literature review[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2023, 22(12): 3624-3637.
[3] Dong WANG, Chunlai CHEN, Christopher FINDLAY. A review of rural transformation studies: Definition, measurement, and indicators[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2023, 22(12): 3568-3581.
[4] Tahlim SUDARYANTO, ERWIDODO, Saktyanu Kristyantoadi DERMOREDJO, Helena Juliani PURBA, Rika Reviza RACHMAWATI, Aldho Riski IRAWAN. Regional rural transformation and its association with household income and poverty incidence in Indonesia in the last two decades[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2023, 22(12): 3596-3609.
[5] SHI Peng-fei, HUANG Ji-kun. Rural transformation, income growth, and poverty reduction by region in China in the past four decades[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2023, 22(12): 3582-3595.
No Suggested Reading articles found!