Document(s) 2 of 10

The quest to eradicate poverty has, for some time, been at the forefront of the policies, programs and operations of development agencies. Poverty eradication has also been the subject of considerable research by academics and policy analysts. At the extraordinary Summit convened by the UN in September 2000, the international community agreed to work together to reduce the incidence of extreme poverty and hunger by at least one-half by the year 2015, along with a series of other critical Millennium Development Goals. Much effort is currently being invested in operations and research to pursue these objectives.

More recently, development analysts have deepened their research to examine the relationship between poverty and inequality. Partly this has been due to the fact that inequality in many countries around the world has widened considerably in the last quarter century. Partly it is due to new research findings that suggest greater income inequality undermines economic growth, which in turn undermines poverty reduction. In other words, the eradication of poverty is an easier task in less unequal societies. Such a proposition suggests that policy-makers and analysts aiming at poverty reduction should focus greater efforts on reducing inequalities in income distribution.

Research on the relationship between income distribution, growth, and poverty reduction is as yet in its infancy. Moreover, income distribution is intimately related to the distribution of assets, whether real or financial: the poor have few assets, which is a direct contributor to their poverty, while the incomes of the rich tend to stem from an abundance of assets. But research on the distribution of assets is even more rudimentary than that on income distribution largely because of the lack of data, which in turn tends to be reinforced in situations of deep inequality.

For all these reasons, much attention is now given to education and health, which amounts to an investment in the human capital of the poor. But the poor also lack other productive assets, such as capital. In countries where the poor are predominantly rural, the lack of ownership of or access to land is a fundamental contributor to poverty. However, in most societies, the unequal distribution of land is deeply rooted in historical, social and political forces. Efforts to change the distribution of land tend to run up

against these forces, because they pit the powerless and marginalized against elites with considerable social, economic and political resources at their command. It is not surprising that violent conflict often attends struggles over land tenure in developing countries. Accordingly, land reform has been a subject avoided by development agencies particularly because it is so politically sensitive.

Clearly this is now changing, but the way ahead in reforming land policy is strewn with complexities and pitfalls. By surveying the literature and examining the issues in Latin America, this timely study points to areas needing much more attention from researchers and policymakers. In so doing, it makes a vital contribution to thinking about sustainable and equitable development in the years ahead.

Maureen O’Neil, President International Development Research Centre

Roy Culpeper, President The North-South Institute

Document(s) 2 of 10