CENTRO DE PERSONAS CON DISCAPACIDAD “ENTREOLIVOS”

All three countries selected for study are from the Asian continent. Nepal and Bangladesh are situated in South Asia whereas Thailand is in South East Asia. Geographically, Nepal is divided into three regions; Mountain, Hill and Terai11 representing 15, 68 and 17 per cent of total area respectively. Administratively, it is divided into development regions, zone and district. The districts are further divided into municipalities and VDCs. There are five Development Regions, 14 zones and 75 districts, 130 municipalities and 3,633 VDCs throughout the country (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2013).

The People’s Republic of Bangladesh was formed in 1972. It was part of India until 1947 and then part of Pakistan until it gained its independence. Administratively, it comprises seven divisions, 64 districts, 483 sub-districts, and 4,500 union parishads, six city corporations and 309 municipalities as on 31st December, 2010 (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Its smallest administrative unit is a village.

11 _{Low-lying land at the foot of the Himalayas south to the border with India; covers 17 per cent of the total}

101 The Kingdom of Thailand is divided into provinces, districts, sub-districts, communes and villages. As of 2000, there were 76 provinces, 795 districts, 81 sub-districts, 7,255 communes, and 69,866 villages (National Statistics Office, 2004).

Selected macro indicators for Nepal, Bangladesh and Thailand are presented in Table 4-1. Bangladesh is highly populated, having a population of 160 million people. The populations of Nepal and Thailand in 2008 were 28 and 67 million respectively. The surface area of Nepal and Bangladesh is almost the same, but Thailand is nearly three times larger than both of these countries. Bangladesh has a higher proportion of arable and agricultural land than the other two countries. As shown in the table, 69 per cent of the land area in Bangladesh is agricultural land whereas only 30 per cent and 36 per cent of the land area in Nepal and Thailand respectively is agricultural land. The table also shows that Thai economy is the largest compared to the other two countries. The total GDP of Thailand in 2008 was more than 20 times higher than that of Nepal and more than three times higher than that of Bangladesh. Agriculture is the main source of income in Nepal where it constitutes one-third (34 per cent) of total GDP. It is the second largest contributor to GDP in Bangladesh (19 per cent). The contribution to this sector in the Thai economy is lower than in the other countries. In Thailand, the manufacturing and service sectors contribute 46 per cent and 36 per cent of total GDP respectively. These sectors share significant proportions of GDP in Bangladesh at 29 per cent and 18 per cent respectively. The share of the service sector in Nepal is only seven per cent.

102 Table 4-1: Selected macro indicators for Nepal, Bangladesh and Thailand

Indicators Year Nepal Bangladesh Thailand

Population 2008 28,581,687 160,000,128 67,386,383

Land area (square kilometres) 2008 143,000 130,170 510,890 Surface area (square kilometres) 2008 147,181 144,000 513,120 Arable land (percentage of land area) 2005 16.5 61.1 27.8 Agricultural land (percentage of land area) 2005 29.5 69.2 36.4 GDP (Current US$, in millions) 2008 12,615 78,992 260,693

GDP growth (annual percentage) 2008 5.3 6.2 2.6

Agriculture value added (percentage of

GDP) 2008 33.7 19.1 11.8 (2007)

Manufacturing value added (percentage of

GDP) 2008 16.7 28.6 45.5 (2007)

Services value added (percentage of GDP) 2008 7.4 18.0 36.1 (2007) Source: USAID12 (2011)

An overview of agricultural production in recent decades in Nepal, Bangladesh and Thailand is presented below. Figure 4-1 shows the GDP of the agriculture sector of Nepal between 1974/75 and 2003/04. As shown in the figure, the GDP of the agricultural sector in Nepal for the Fiscal Year 1974/75 was 11,435 million rupees13. It increased continuously throughout the period and reached 13,365 million rupees in 1978/79 and 183,357 million

rupees in 2003/04, which is 1,503 per cent higher than that of 1974/75 and 1,272 per cent

higher than that of 1978/79. It shows that the agricultural production increased when the land registration activities are carried out but it has followed a general upward path.

12

United State Agency for International Development 13

103 Figure 4-1: GDP from agricultural sector in Nepal from 1974/75 to 2003/04

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics (2012)

The gross value added of the agricultural sector in Bangladesh between 1960 and 2013 is presented in Figure 4-2. As shown in the figure, the gross value added was 11,793 million

taka14 in 1960, which increased by around 90 percent in 1972 (22,490 million taka) when Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan. It rose gradually with some fluctuations to reach 154,773 in 1984 and 1,857,525 million taka in 2013 increasing 15,650 per cent, 8,159 per cent and 1,100 per cent than that of 1960, 1972 and 1984 respectively. Thus, agricultural production has followed a general upward path during this period.

14

The currency of Bangladesh

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000 160000 180000 200000 Ag ri cu ltu re G DP in Mil lio n R u p ee s Fiscal Year

GDP from Agriculture (Agriculure, Fishery and Forestry) in Nepal From 1974/75 to 2003/04 (in Million Rupees)

Agriculture GDP Introduction of

104 Figure 4-2: Agriculture value added in Bangladesh from 1960 to 2013

Source: World Bank (2014a)

Figure 4-3 presents GDP from the agricultural sector in Thailand between 1975 and 2011. The agriculture GDP increased considerably except in 1993, 1999 and 2009. In comparison to the GDP of 1985 (167,026 million baht15) it increased by 300 per cent in 2004 (668,808 million baht) and 680 per cent in 2011 (1,303,580 million baht).

15

The currency of Thailand

0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000 1400000 1600000 1800000 2000000 1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 Ag ri cu ltu ra l V al u e A d d ed in M ill io n T aka Year

Agriculture Value Added in Bangladesh From 1960 to 2013 (in Million Taka)

Agriculture Value Added Independence of

105 Figure 4-3: Agricultural value added in Thailand from 1975 to 2011

Source: World Bank (2014b)

The data from Nepal and Thailand presented above cover the period in which land administration activities were mainly carried out. In Nepal, most of the land adjudication works were carried out and the Land Revenue Act, 1978 was implemented throughout the country. In Thailand, the 20-year land titling programme was implemented and more than 20 million parcels were titled. The data show that the agricultural production has followed an upward trend after the commencement of land registration activities despite some minor fluctuations. In case of Bangladesh, it does not cover the period in which land administration activities were carried out although, it provides a scenario of agricultural production in recent decades.