8. Abstract

»Acess to land« was, a generation ago, the cry of the rural poputation in Asia. But, since the end of the 60s, the »Green Revolution«, the experiencc of millions of immigrant workers mainly in oil countries, general cconomic development, and the influence of niass mcdia have brought ahout a change.

»Access to income«, wherever it comes from, is the dcsire of today's youth. Owners of very small pieces of land try to increase their income by tak-ing up non-agricultura] aclivities so thal agricullure provides pari on!y of thc livelihood of many rural households. This multiemploymcnt ha s become widesprcad in Asia.

Aboul 25 per cent of all land-culti-vating households in Asia can be helped by agricultural policy because their farm is of a sufficieni size to allow them to carn a living from agriculture. But, for about 75 per cent of all Asian land-cullivating households cultivating only a srnaU piece of land, agricultural policy is hardly of intcrcst. They would be intercsted in new employment op-portunities bcing created, training in non-agricultural Jobs, and other meas-ures of regional development.

Al this slage of development, agrarian reforrn still has its placc, but it should have different Contents from those in formcr times. 1t should be incorporated into the gcncral development policy. In addition to distribution of land, land rnanagement, thc organ-ization of land- and tenancy markets should also bc incorporatcd.