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Food in Exchange for Labor

November 2, 2006

imereti_glexebi.gifIn Georgia special program for socially excluded population,' Food in Exchange for labor' has been launched. Within the framework of the program unemployed people are hired; however their labor is reimbursed with products. As for the daily amount of the food, they are 2, 2 kilo flour, 120 grams of oil and 120 grams of sugar.

The project is implemented by the UN and it fixes amount of daily ration. They state in the UN office that the project aims to support the peasants to restore their economy and infrastructure. The project is being carried out in seven regions of Georgia, such as: Kakheti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Imereti, Guria, Racha-Lechkhumi and Abkhazia. Participants of the project are selected among the people who want to take part in it. Local population is informed about the program and then special conference creates a group of representatives from various social levels. Regarding the UN standards main category of the participants are peasants with scanty land, women, impoverished and middle class people.

As for the labor it can be cleaning of drain and irrigation systems, calculating plots, repairing village roads, narrow bridges, shoring up the river banks, water systems, etc.

'Human Rights Information and Documentation Centre' visited those villages in Imereti Region, where people are ready to receive food in exchange for labor. One of such villages is Ivandidi in Khobi District. Nowadays villagers are employed at tea plantation to root out tea bushes. They are satisfied with the work since they have chance to get some food while they have no other income.

Though they have no experience in it, they told us that accepted the proposal immediately.

Mari Kupreishvili, living in the village of Ivandidi stated the following: "Rooting out tea bushes is not very difficult work. Tractor is doing main work. It pulls roots and then we take what remains in the ground. Thus we clean the whole plot. What else could we do? There is no other chance of getting employed in our village. People are eventually leaving the place. But who has nowhere to go, tries to earn his living somehow. Nobody has money in the area. We mainly survive by bartering and that's why we have accepted the proposal. Flour, sugar and oil are necessary products for every family. We have to buy them and it will be better if we get it free in exchange for our labor."

Tsitso Avaliani accepted the proposal for the same reason. She thinks it would be better if they plant crops on the place. "We have nothing to do. The whole village is unemployed. They offered us work and we accepted. In the past we earned our living by working on these plantations, but now we are rooting it out. I do not think this land will give harvest on the first year, since the land needs serious cultivation. They told us that they intend to give those plots to us. We might plant either crops or potato there. I have never worked in exchange for food before. We have not been employed since the collective farms [during soviet time] were abolished. We are ready to accept any sort of reimbursement. Working is certainly better than unemployment."

According to Gocha Demetradze, representative of the UN project, the plantations which are being cleaned, have not been cultivated for fourteen years and they are full of prickles. "This area belonged to the community. We have drawn up a settlement with Administrative Board and after plantations are amortized the land will be granted to the peasants with scanty land. Total area of the land is 10 acres. It must be distributed among two hundred families. People are reimbursed according to working hours."

Though the people prefer permanent work with stabile wages, since there is no alternative job, they have to agree to work in exchange for food. However there are people who categorically refuse getting employed in this way. I do not think it were right to employ people in exchange for food in the 21st century. One of the participants of the program told us: "Give me money and I will buy flour, oil and sugar whenever I like to."

Eka Gulua

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