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The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (December, 2003) of the Government of Pakistan (GOP) highlights the importance of the rural economy for poverty reduction and sustained economic growth. Given that land is at the heart of agriculture and the rural economy in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab Province, land ownership and administration issues are of key importance. Inequalities of land distribution, tenure insecurity and difficulties associated with the land administration and registration system are closely interrelated and continue to impose significant constraints on both rural and urban populations, particularly the poor. Land transactions are relatively high cost (containing a high proportion of informal costs), and disputes about authenticity of land rights are caused, among others, by the inefficient and dispersed land records system. As a result land markets are thin and land prices are in excess of the discounted value of potential agricultural earnings from land. The low mobility of land contributes to perpetuating the highly unequal distribution of land and, thus, livelihood opportunities.