Agriculture, Caste, Religion and Happiness in South Asia

by Riaz Haq

Mar 29

Pakistan's agriculture sector GDP grew at a rate of 5.2% in the October-December 2023 quarter, according to the government figures. This is a rare bright spot in the overall national economy that showed just 1% growth during the quarter. Strong performance of the farm sector gives the much needed boost for about 37% of Pakistan's workforce engaged in agriculture. It helps the country's rural economy improve their living standards. In the same period, India's agriculture sector that employs 43% of the workforce slowed to 1.2% growth. This could be one possible contributing factor for Pakistan (rank108) significantly outperforming India (rank 126) on the World Happiness Index once again. 

World Happiness Map 2023. Source: Gallup

Pakistan has seen bumper crops of rice, corn, wheat, sugar and cotton this fiscal year after the devastation caused by massive floods in the prior year. During the first six months of the current fiscal year 2023-24, exports of agro and food products from Pakistan have soared by 64% as compared to the same period during 2022-2023. In the month of December alone, there was a growth of 118%, as $882 million of food was exported as compared  to $404 million in the same month in 2022-23. Pakistan's gains in the food export market have come at a time when India has had to limit or ban exports of rice, corn, sugar and other commodities due to crop failures.  

The World Happiness Report attributes India's poor ranking in the Index to widespread caste discrimination in the country. Older Indians belonging to upper castes, and “never experience[d] discrimination or ill-treatment” were “more satisfied with their lives”, according to the report.

Caste discrimination contributed “significantly to the caste-based discrepancies in life satisfaction”, the research showed. Caste backgrounds determined access to education, social services, health care or financial security in India.  Individuals with secondary or higher education, and those of higher social castes reported higher life satisfaction than those without access to formal education and those from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

Another factor contributing to India's unhappiness is the ruling party's targeting of its minorities, including Christians, Muslims and Sikhs. Here's an excerpts from Rohit Khanna's piece in The Quint describing this issue:

"In recent years, 20 percent of India, our minorities, have been targeted – economically, socially, and physically. We have all seen multiple viral videos calling for the economic boycott of Muslims, of them being mob-lynched on the roads, of their homes being bulldozed, of inter-faith marriages being targeted as ‘love-jihad’ and more. We have seen videos of Christian pastors and congregations being roughed up, and of church buildings being vandalised. We have seen protesting Sikh farmers being vilified on communal lines as ‘Khalistanis’". 

Average MPCE (Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure) for Indian Muslims is only Rs. 2,170.  Average MPCE for upper caste Hindus is Rs. 3,321, the highest of all groups. Lower caste Hindus fare much worse than upper caste Hindus, according to Indian government data. 

Average Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure by Caste in India. Source: Hindustan Times
India is almost totally dominated by the upper caste Hindus. It is not just the 220 million Dalits (untouchables), or the 190 million Muslims, or the 110 million from “scheduled tribes” (Adivasis)  who are under-represented in positions of power and privilege, but also the 40-50% of Hindus who come from the widest tier of the pyramid, the shudras or laboring castes, known as Other Backwards Classes (OBCs), according to a report in The Economist Magazine.
Some Indians claim without evidence that the Indian Muslims are richer than Pakistani Muslims. The fact is that the average monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) in Pakistan was PKR 5,959 in 2019-20, the year closest to the 2021-22 for which the Indian MPCE data is available. Using the 2019 average exchange rate of 2.136 PKR to INR, this works out to MPCE of INR 2,789 in Pakistan, higher than for Indian Hindus (INR 2,470) and Muslims (INR 2,170).  As to the cost of living in the two countries, Pakistan is 15.8% cheaper than India without rent and 20.1% cheaper with rent, according to Numbeo. 
While it is true the Pakistani currency has suffered significant devaluation in the last couple of years, there have been large increases in wages. Pakistan's minimum wage has increased 14 times since 2001, from 14% to 67%. The minimum wage for unskilled workers in 2023 is 32,000 Pakistani rupees per month, up from 25,000 rupees in 2022. The cost of living has been a key factor in determining the new rate. 
Income Poverty in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Source: Our World in Data

Over 75% of the world's poor deprived of basic living standards (nutrition, cooking fuel, sanitation and housing) live in India compared to 4.6% in Bangladesh and 4.1% in Pakistan, according to a recently released OPHI/UNDP report on multidimensional poverty.  Here's what the report says: "More than 45.5 million poor people are deprived in only these four indicators (nutrition, cooking fuel, sanitation and housing). Of those people, 34.4 million live in India, 2.1 million in Bangladesh and 1.9 million in Pakistan—making this a predominantly South Asian profile". 
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  • Riaz Haq

    Empirical results of the study reveal that agricultural growth and other important variables of the study such as cash crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry are significantly affecting poverty head count rate in Pakistan.

    Agriculture is considered a key tool for reducing poverty in developing countries like Pakistan. It employs almost half of the rural workforce, contributes around 20% to the country's GDP, and provides raw materials for agro-based industries. However, some studies suggest that agriculture may only help mitigate rural poverty in the long term, while other sources say that sustainable agriculture practices can significantly improve agricultural production and reduce poverty.

    Here are some ways that agriculture can help the rural poor in Pakistan:
    Employment
    Agriculture provides jobs for millions of people in rural areas, including both skilled and unskilled workers. This can help reduce unemployment and poverty.
    Sustainable practices
    Studies have shown that sustainable agriculture practices can significantly improve agricultural production, which can help reduce poverty. For example, one project in Pakistan advised farmers on applying gypsum to water channels, which allowed them to grow rice and wheat in alternating seasons.
    Crop-related advice
    Some organizations have provided small-scale farmers with crop-related advice tailored to each stage of the cropping cycle. This advice can help farmers prepare their land, select seeds, apply fertilizer, irrigate their fields, and control disease.
    However, the agriculture sector in Pakistan faces several challenges, including unequal land ownership, which is a major cause of poverty. About 75% of households in Pakistan own no land, and poverty levels are highest among landless households.

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    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6974416/#:~:text=Metho...

    Jun 12

  • Riaz Haq

    Inequality in India: Upper castes hold nearly 90% of billionaire wealth | India News - Business Standard


    https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/inequality-surges-in-i...


    A recent report from World Inequality Lab titled, ‘Towards Tax Justice and Wealth Redistribution in India’, has laid bare the stark economic disparities that plague India. The findings are sobering: nearly 90 per cent of the country’s billionaire wealth is concentrated in the hands of the upper castes, highlighting a deep socio-economic divide.
    Billionaire wealth dominated by upper castes
    The analysis in the report unveils a staggering 88.4 per cent of India’s billionaire wealth is controlled by upper castes. In contrast, while Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) together form a significant part of India’s workforce, their representation among enterprise owners remains disproportionately low.


    This discrepancy is not limited to the billionaires; the All-India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) for 2018-19 indicates that upper castes hold nearly 55 per cent of the national wealth. This concentration of wealth also highlights the persistent economic inequalities rooted in India’s caste system.
    Caste influences financial demographics
    Caste continues to play a critical role in determining access to essential resources such as education, healthcare, social networks, and credit — all crucial for entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Historically, Dalits faced prohibitions on land ownership in many regions, severely curtailing their economic progress.
    This disparity extends beyond billionaire rankings. The ‘State of Working India, 2023’ report from Azim Premji University further highlights these disparities, showing SCs and STs are underrepresented among enterprise owners relative to their workforce participation. SCs, comprising 19.3 per cent of the workforce, account for only 11.4 per cent of enterprise owners. Similarly, STs, making up 10.1 per cent of the workforce, represent just 5.4 per cent of enterprise owners.



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    India’s Income Inequality Worse Than Under British Rule: Report | TIME

    https://time.com/6961171/india-british-rule-income-inequality/

    For income, the economists looked at annual tax tabulations released by both the British and Indian governments since 1922. They found that even during the highest recorded period of inequality in India, which occurred during the inter-war colonial period from the 1930s until India’s independence in 1947, the top 1% held around 20 to 21% of the country’s national income. Today, the 1% holds 22.6% of the country’s income.

    Similarly, the economists also tracked the dynamics of wealth inequality, beginning in 1961, when the Indian government first began conducting large-scale household surveys on wealth, debt and assets. By combining this research with information from the Forbes Billionaire Index, the authors found that India’s top 1% had access to a staggering 40.1% of national wealth.

    Jun 27

  • Riaz Haq

    World Inequality Report: Over 85% Of Indian Billionaires From Upper Castes, None From Scheduled Tribes


    https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/world-inequality-report-over-85-of-...

    India's income and wealth inequality, which declined post-independence, began to rise in the 1980s and has soared since the 2000s. Between 2014-15 and 2022-23, the increase in top-end inequality has been particularly striking in terms of wealth concentration. The top 1 per cent of income and wealth shares are now at their highest historical levels. Specifically, the top 1 per cent control over 40 per cent of total wealth in India, up from 12.5 per cent in 1980, and they earn 22.6 per cent of total pre-tax income, up from 7.3 per cent in 1980

    This dramatic rise in inequality has made the "Billionaire Raj," dominated by India's modern bourgeoisie, more unequal than the British Raj. It places India among the most unequal countries globally. Current estimates indicate that it takes just ₹ 2.9 lakhs per year to be in the top 10 per cent of income earners and₹ 20.7 lakhs to join the top 1 per cent . In stark contrast, the median adult earns only about ₹ 1 lakh, while the poorest have virtually no income. The bottom 50 per cent of the population earns only 15 per cent of the total national income.

    To fully grasp the skewed income distribution, one would have to be close to the 90th percentile to earn the average income. In terms of wealth, an adult needs ₹ 21 lakhs to be in the wealthiest 10 per cent and ₹ 82 lakhs to enter the top 1 per cent . The median adult holds approximately ₹ 4.3 lakhs in wealth, with a significant portion owning almost no wealth. The bottom 50 per cent holds only 6.4 per cent of the total wealth, while the top 1 per cent owns 40.1 per cent , and the top 0.001 per cent alone controls 17 per cent . This means fewer than 10,000 individuals in the top 0.001 per cent hold nearly three times the total wealth of the entire bottom 50 per cent (46 crore individuals).

    Jun 29