ISLAMABAD, Jan 12: The annual report on Human Development in South Asia will be released here on Tuesday. This year’s report focuses on agriculture and human development. The report emphasizes the fact that the agricultural sector remains sadly neglected at the policy level, despite its obvious centrality to the lives of the majority of South Asians.

The Report on Human Development in South Asia 2002 is the sixth annual report of Mahbubul Haq Human Development Centre.

The basic message of the report is that high levels of human development cannot be achieved if development priorities do not focus on the occupation of the majority of the people — farm and non-farm employment, and where they live — rural areas.

The report also highlights the fact that the South Asian elite have regularly indulged in rent-seeking activity, and thereby maintained inefficient and exploitative social relations in rural areas. The use of political power to maintain unjust and unequal economic and social structures is also an important issue raised.

The report reaffirms the conviction of Dr Mahbubul Haq that without meaningful land reform, human development and poverty alleviation goals cannot be achieved.

The report stresses that policies for food security have focused on the welfare approach and not on the empowerment of people. Access to and availability of food must go hand in hand with the ability of people to purchase food.

The report places significant emphasis on the marginalization of women in rural areas. Among other things, the fact that women very rarely control assets, including land (even if they own it), seriously reduces their ability to protect their basic rights.

The impact of trade liberalization is acknowledged to have hurt the food security needs of the rural poor. As terms of trade for the majority of agricultural exports decrease further, it becomes even more important to demand that the rich and prosperous proponents of free trade play a fairer game, particularly in terms of eliminating large subsidies to capital- intensive agriculture in the North.

The report continues the now well-established tradition of Mahbubul Haq Human Development Centre to critically analyse the state of human development in South Asia and urging the ruling elite of the region to take the much-needed steps to improve the lot of its poor majority.