Friday, February 29, 2008

Land Reform for Human Race

In “Day Arrives for Land Reform”, Knox (2003) writes “The day of the landlord is past” (para. 1). People live on the earth for long time and the quality of life made steady progress. On the other hand, people have various problems of life. The world of today has several issues, especially, a food shortage from increase in population and efficient land use are matters of the great concern. Also, small farmers are rapidly disappearing and poor countries are getting hungrier and a lot of extensive communal farms lie fallow. All the countries of the world try to make new countermeasures because of aggravation of the food situation that does not keep up with the increase of the population. So, many kinds of countries try to enforce land reform for mankind. Therefore effective land reform can be a solution for the food shortage problems by increasing productivity of the land, which can contribute to economic growth and price stabilization.

According to Miller (1994), Environment: Problems and Solutions, land reform refers to a change in the system of land ownership, especially when it involves giving land to the people who actually farm it, and taking it away from people who own large areas for profit (p. 46). People of today show interest in land conservation and land improvement. For example, the Russian attachment to land is so deep and visceral that efforts to sell off decaying collective farms unsettle. Many of the huge communal farms laid fallow, bankrupt remnants of a corrupt and clumsy system that was brutally engineered by communism over 70 years ago. Now government in Russia is pushing new land reform. Without such basic land reform, Russian agriculture will remain mired in its soviet -lethargy. In “Russia’s Bitter Farmers Stay Put”, Mendenhall, Surnin, and Alexandroff (n. d) state, “Meanwhile, migration and land reform experts watch the country closely, quietly analyzing its population movement and rural economies. They hope continued dumb luck- and some well-placed rural economic programs- will keep the rural population from overwhelming urban areas until the Russian economy recovers from post-Soviet depression” (para. 3). These days, land reform gives humans various benefits as increase in urban population and the inequality between the city and the country.

First of all, land reform will enable the increase of the productivity. It means that land reform can create better land adjustment and land improvement. This point is very important because land reform can reduce imprudent urban planning and establish a good development project about undeveloped land. People using land reform have a good supply of food on hand. Venezuela in one of countries using land reform makes a profit of an output. According to Bruce (2005), “Venezuela Land Reform Gets Going”, the government in Venezuela brought to a successful land reform, so people in Venezuela have many kinds of new farmland, and the government is going to help people set up co-operatives and posses of the land (para. 2). Land reform can make various food products. People in Korea can make various kinds of food products. For instance, there is place to produce only rice, but after land reform, people can make diversified farming such as grazing lands and fruit gardens. Land reform will have good effects to a community and human because land reform can increase in productivity effects and make advancement of an agricultural community. Nowadays, a food problem is made from imprudent farmland development and urbanization. Therefore, people have to try to improve use of land for the next generation.

Next, land reform can create economic growth and news kinds of jobs. Governments using land reform offer people various jobs in new kinds of regions and land reform can reduce between the rich and the poor because it induces regional development. Many people believe that land reform can make to new building estate and economic growth. For example, Mexico has made the recovery trend of the Mexico economy. In “Mexican land reform to unite small farmers and big business”, Caron and John (1994) write “As the land becomes more productive, fewer farm laborers will be required. However, many formers and small farmers will enjoy increased incomes and improved standards of live, and new jobs will be created in food procession” (para. 12). Many countries also try to investigate advantages of land reform. For example, government in Korea tries to disperse the population in cities into the country because many people can find various jobs and make profits because of land reform. Therefore, land reform can make extensive benefits with land development.

Finally, land reform can stabilize the value of land because today everything is becoming the object of speculation. Land reform can benefit people who want to use for farming or other purposes. For example, government in Korea has some state nationalization of lands because of land reform. Land cost in Korea is very expensive because many people try to buy the valuable estates. Therefore, government in Korea rent people the land for their businesses because land cost in Korea is very expensive. The government also can spend less money on its own land reform without lobbies and people can receive a great number of areas under cultivation. Land reform can make various benefits of land use. In “Great Policy, Little Capacity”, Groenewald (2008) writes “The restitution programme- designed to restore land to those deprived of it under past discriminatory laws- would reach its final deadline next month and had to be rounded off” (para. 9). Therefore, land reform is important to stabilize the value of land.

Some people do not agree with land reform. Land reform causes several problems. They say one of problems is that somebody live in the countryside will lose their land. Some people worry about new environmental adaptation and changes of their life without their own land. However, it is nothing to worry about because many countries using land reform have various restitution programs. Cornelia says “If we were given this land by the government… we would work hard to succeed” (2004, August 8, para. 6). People of today have to make changes of life. The world has undergone some major changes during the past several years. For example, farmers in Korea use various agricultural motor tractors to their farmland and they also apply various agricultural methods to their land. Korean government using land reform has continued their study for human. Therefore, people have to meet the needs of the times for a big profit.

In conclusion, these days, land reform is one of solutions about various problems of estate, especially; land reform gives people that productivity effects and land development, economic growth and news kinds of jobs, and stabilizes the value of land. Therefore, human beings should use an effective land reform for mankind. Governments using land reform should be made a constant effort its investigation for human happiness.







Reference

Alexandroff, A., Mendenhall, P., & Surnin, D. (n. d). Russia’s bitter farmers stay put. MSNBC.com. Retrieved February 21, 2008 from www.msnbc.msn.com

Bruce, I. (2005, April 29). Venezuela land reform gets going. BBC News.
Retrieved February 21, 2008 from www.news.bbc.co.uk

Caron & John, B. (1994, January 7). Mexican land reform to unite small farmers and big business. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 21, 2008 from www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-14748402.html

Groenewald, Y. (2008, February 15). ‘Great policy, little capacity’. Mail&Guardian Online. Retrieved February 21, 2008 from
www.mg.co.za/printPage.aspx?area=/insight/insight_national/&articleld=332392

Knox, J. (2003, January 25). Day arrives for land reform. BBC News. Retrieved February 21, 2008 from www.news.bbc.co.uk

Miller, Jr., G.T (1994) Environment: problems and solutions. Belmont: Wadsworth.

Phillips, B. (2004, August 8). Namibians prepare for emotive land reform. BBC News. Retrieved February 21, 2008 from www.news.bbc.co.uk