Impact of development efforts on agricultural wage labor

This report presents survey data regarding place of origin, family size and labor supply, education, landholding, ethnicity, age, employment, agricultural wage, perception about development activities, and the impact of development on quality of life. Major findings included the following. (1) Institutional employers have stable, but lower, wage rates than do private farms. (2) Some 40% of respondents feel that the government does nothing to better their lot; the rest believe that the government provides jobs, maintains law and order, and distributes land. Most of those owning more than 1 ha of land believe government activities to be beneficial. (3) Average wage rates are increasing faster than the price of cereal grains. (4) Development impacts are limited: the quality of cereal consumed has increased for only 20% of the respondents, only 40% reported changes in clothing fabric used or size of wardrobe, and only 12.5% reported going to the movies more frequently. It is recommended that future development programs be oriented directly to agricultural wage laborers" needs and that new wage rates be fixed for both peak and slack seasons.