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NepalLAND REFORM, NEPAL
Nepal was long under a feudal system where a small
number of
landlords held most of the agricultural land
(see Infighting among Aristocratic Factions
, ch. 1). The state extended its
control over
the land by the administrative device of making land
grants and
assignments and raising revenues. Most of the landlords
who were
granted state lands were not directly involved in farming
but
contracted with tenant farmers on a customary, and
hereditary,
basis. The basic purpose of land reform was to protect the
tenant
farmers, take away excess holdings from landlords, and
distribute
property to farmers with small landholdings (holding one
to three
hectares) and landless agrarian households.
Efforts at land reform began with the enactment of the
Land and
Cultivation Record Compilation Act in 1956 and continued
with the
Lands Act in 1957 when the government began to compile
tenants'
records. Although these acts facilitated land reform, the
lot of
the small farmer did not improve, and further efforts were
made.
The Agricultural Reorganization Act, passed in 1963, and
the Land
Reform Act, passed in 1964, emphasized security for tenant
farmers
and put a ceiling on landholdings. There were several
loopholes in
the acts, however, which continued to allow large
landholders to
control most of the lands. There was some success in
protecting the
rights of tenant farmers, but not much was achieved in
land
redistribution. As of 1990, average landholdings remained
small
(see
table 8, Appendix).
Data as of September 1991
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