ABSTRACT
The long run success of a land reform in practice is probably more likely to depend on provisions for flexibility in organisation, size of holdings and administration than on finding the optimum set of arrangements at the outset. Many of the most crucial land reforms have been carried out in conditions of agricultural overpopulation where not only is the ownership of farmland unevenly distributed, but there is also an overall shortage of land. The Cuban land reform also exhibits an immediate and considerable increase in agricultural employment; from a labour surplus economy, Cuba has become a labour deficit economy. Although evidence on pre- and post-reform income levels is difficult to obtain, a number of case studies support the contention that land reform leads to increased and more evenly distributed beneficiary incomes. An alternative way of demonstrating the relationship between land reform and development is to look for empirical justification of its existence.
