Salman Ata

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13547860.2019.1608637?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=rjap20

In recent years, hundreds of thousands of hectares of land in developing countries is being granted to the governments and private investors of developed countries through leases, land purchase and contract farming. Based on the notion of ‘power of exclusion’ this paper explores the process and identifies which social class has more access to new income generating opportunities and who is excluded in the context of transnational land acquisition in Sindh province of Pakistan. Quantitative and qualitative data shows that poor segments of society such as previous land user, women, agricultural labor and landless farmers were the most excluded groups regarding TLA process and associated benefits while elite social groups such as land leaser/politicians and some irrigation department officials have increased access to positive outcomes of transnational land acquisition. Decreasing in the acreages under food crops also have a detrimental impact on local food security. https://www.ta...

Pakistan provides seasonal hunting permits to the rulers of Gulf countries for hunting of Asian Houbara bustard ( Chlamydotis macqueenii ) in different parts of the country. This research deals with (transnational) seasonal land acquisition of different rangelands/deserts of the Punjab province of Pakistan. So far, no comprehensive research has been conducted in Pakistan on this issue. This research attempts to address the impact of seasonal land grabbing by the foreigners on livelihood assets of local stakeholders in South Punjab, Pakistan. Based on the idea of ‘control grabbing’, this research uses ‘sustainable livelihood framework’ as an analytical framework. Quantitative and qualitative data were acquired from three (out of a total nine) randomly selected hunting sanctuaries in the districts of Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan. Results revealed that natural assets of local population (agricultural land and rangeland) are adversely affected during the entire hunting season. Limi...

بین الاقوامی منڈی میں پاکستانی کھجوریں سب سے کم قیمت پاتی ہیں جسکی بنیادی وجہ مناسب ٹیکنالوجی سے ناواقفیت، درست قسم کا چناؤ نہ کرنا اور مارکیٹنگ کے مسائل ہیں۔ دوسرے پھلوں کے برعکس کھجور پر کم محنت درکار ہوتی ہے لیکن چند ایک بنیادی چیزوں کا خیال نہ رکھا جائے تو اچھا خاصہ پھل بدذائقہ اور بدشکل ہو جاتا ہے۔ کھجور کی اقسام مجہول (مراکش)، برھی (عراق)، زاھدی (عراق)، دگلت نور (تیونس) اور خلاص (سعودی عرب) کی بین الاقومی منڈی میں بہت مانگ ہے۔ پاکستان میں کئی ایسی اقسام ہیں جنہیں بین ال اقوامی سطح پر پزیرائی مل سکتی ہے۔ ان میں سے ایک ڈیرہ اسماعیل کے ایک گاؤں کے نام سے منسوب "ڈھکی" کجھور ہے۔ میرے ذاتی خیال میں یہ ورائٹٰی دنیا کی کسی بھی قسم سے کمتر نہیں ہے۔ پاکستان میں اسکی کاشت مندرجہ ذیل وجوہات کی بنا پر زیادہ سے زیادہ ہونی چاہیے 1۔ بہت خوش ذائقہ ہے 2۔ سائز میں بڑی ہے (9۔1-2 انچ، 24-19 گرام)، اور گودے کی مقدار زیادہ ہے 3۔ اسکی فی پودا پیداوار زیادہ ہے (اوسط زاھدی 70 کلو، ڈھکی 150 کلو) 4۔ زیادہ عرصہ تک محفوظ کی جا سکتی ہے البتہ چونکہ پچھیتی قسم ہے اسلئے مون سون بارش سے بچانے کیلئے خ...

PARADIGMS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH (Draft only) Mental model or frames of reference (belief system) (to organize observation and reasoning) shape our research designs. These frames or mental models are known as paradigms ( Bhattacherjee, 2012 ). It is a way to describe a worldview, informed by some philosophical assumptions about the nature of (social) reality ( Chilisa and Kawulich , 2012) . They are like colored glasses that control what we see and how we organize our thoughts about the observed world. According to Schwandt (2001), “ a paradigm is a shared worldview that represents the beliefs and values in a discipline and that guides how problems are solved ”. Different people have a different views of the observed phenomenon because they see social reality in different ways. For example, liberals and conservatives proposed different poverty reduction strategies as they see governments’ roles differently. To create a better economy, conservative may propose lowering taxes while...

Marketing of Date Palm in Pakistan Agricultural marketing in Pakistan is not sophisticated and there is a series of intermediaries between producers and consumers. This large market chain along with lack of storage facilities result in the spoiling of 30-40% fresh produce before reaching the consumer (PHDEB, 2008).  Like other horticulture crops, dates trade is with the private sector. However, Government assists the system by offering physical infrastructure particularly wholesale markets and communication, market promotion, market intelligence and regulatory measures to remove the difficulties in business operations (PHDEB, 2008).  Date producers often rely on relatively high-cost informal credit sources and advances from date contractors because they face many difficulties in marketing their produce. They have little access to the credit and other facilities in wholesale and assembly markets; and are treated as temporary clients (Khushk et al., 2006). This sectio...