The extent and form of farm tenancy vary. Tenancy is widespread in England and Wales, for example; in Thailand and Denmark, on the other hand, tenants constitute only 5 percent of the total number of farmers. Under one arrangement, known as sharecropping, the landowner furnishes all the capital and sometimes the food, clothing, and medical expenses of the tenant and may also supervise the work. In other forms of tenant farming, the tenant may furnish all the equipment and have a substantial degree of autonomy in the operation of the farm.
Tenant farming can be highly efficient, as has been demonstrated in the United Kingdom and in the midwestern United States. Abuses occur when the landowners' power is excessive and when the tenants are poor or of inferior social status. Since World War II, governments have increasingly acted to improve the condition of tenant farmers. Such measures usually centre on rent limitations, minimum lease periods, and the right of tenants to compensation for capital improvements that they have made. In Marxist societies landowners' properties are sometimes expropriated, subdivided, and allocated to farmers.
The organization of farming: types of farms
Types of property rights classified by types of ownership