Tenancy as a Strategy Among Rural Poor People in India, 2006-2007

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This module of research under the heading "income opportunities, inequality and the poor" of Global Poverty Research Group (www.gprg.org) examines earnings opportunities for poor people in Indian contexts using secondary data, primary survey data and qualitative data. The research includes three main sub-areas. Firstly secondary data were used to review agricultural productivity differences across farm types in the context of a growing female contribution to the labour of farming. Pay and employment status differences by gender and class have been written up separately. A typology of tenant households will highlight the use of tenancy by poor workers to offset their shortage of land and water. Secondly, primary data from two village bases [data submitted here] are being used to examine strategic choices made at household and individual level regarding strategies for exiting poverty, including tenancy as a strategy. See www.ruralvisits.org for details. Thirdly, the possibility that trajectories for exiting poverty might include attempts to rent in land will be considered using detailed case studies. Some implications for agencies which support agricultural development and which provide inputs, extension, credit and infrastructure are being discussed in the final analysis of the data. Previous studies show that national datasets understate the extent of tenancy. The literature review conducted in 2003 showed that existing theoretical options for studying tenancy also leave a few gaps. Specifically, the resource allocation theory presumes that households maximise income, without allowing for risk and vulnerability; the marxist theory assumes that tenancy is a polarising factor whereas data shows more nuanced variations in experience; and neoclassical theories have tended to suffer from methodological individualism. In order to offset these gaps, the proposed research will explore how strategies are negotiated within households [qualitative data, these data are the ones that are submitted here]; how legal and institutional factors mediate the polarising or other impact of tenancy on the income distribution [comparative study of national secondary data from NCAER and NSS]; and how the meanings and impact of tenancy differ between social classes and individuals [local qualitative data].