both small- and medium-sized farmers. The latter suffered disproportionately because a higher percentage of them were tenant farmers. The result was a shift of farmers from the lower-medium- to the small-farm category over the inter-censual period. Polarization in farm size also contributed to landlessness among the poor peasantry. According to Akmal Hussain, census data reveal that 794,000 peasants - 43 percent of all agricultural laborers in Pakistan in 1973 - entered the category of wage laborers from 1961 to 1973.98 Many of these peasants were evicted from their land during the process of change ushered in by the green revolution.In short, concern over resource scarcities, the structure of Pakistan's agrarian economy, and new agricultural technologies combined to increase the incentives and opportunities for rural elites to appropriate, or capture, cropland, in the process increasing the number of small holder and landless peasants. Many were forced to move to other areas in search of employment, with small towns and cities receiving the largest share of the migration.The Timber Mafia. The exploitation of Pakistan's forests exhibited a similar process. While deforestation has a long history, rates have been particularly high over the past decade, in large part because of rising demand for fuelwood. Land management and property rights legislation have failed to ensure adequate regulation of the forest industry.In many cases, strong urban and rural groups have appropriated both community and government lands for themselves. According to a recent report published by the Pakistan Administrative Staff College in Lahore, a "timber mafia" - a term coined to describe persons and groups having a commercial interest in rapid forest exploitation -is now ravaging Pakistan's dwindling forests.During the late 1970s and early 1980s, individuals used large transfers of state development funds to open up forest areas for exploitation. Road and elec...
