РОССИЯ И АБХАЗИЯ ПОДПИСАЛИ МЕМОРАНДУМ О ВЗАИМОПОНИМАНИИ В ОБЛАСТИ СЕЛЬСКОГО ХОЗЯЙСТВА
21 сентября. /ИТАР-ТАСС/. Министры сельского хозяйства России и Абхазии Елена Скрынник и Юрий Акаба подписали 18 сентября в рамках Инвестиционного форума в Сочи меморандум о взаимопонимании в области сельского хозяйства.
Как сообщила Скрынник, взаимовыгодное сотрудничество между Россией и Абхазией в первую очередь будет осуществляться по таким направлениям АПК, как растениеводство, животноводство, автоматизация агропромышленного производства и переработка сельхозкультур.
По словам министра сельского хозяйства Абхазии, "подписание меморандума является для нас знаковым событием, импульсом к развитию агропромышленного комплекса республики". "Мы сейчас не говорим о каких-то гигантских проектах в сельском хозяйстве, наша задача состоит в том, чтобы создавать мини-предприятия с полным производственным циклом, прежде всего, в животноводстве", - сказал Акаба.
Глава Минсельхоза России добавила, что в рамках сотрудничества с Абхазией "мы будем также обмениваться специалистами, передовыми методами и технологиями, информацией".
RUSSIA AND ABKHAZIA HAVE SIGNED THE MEMORANDUM OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN THE FIELD OF AGRICULTURE On September, 21st./ИТАР-ТАСС/. Ministers of Agriculture of Russia and Abkhazia Elena Skrynnik and Jury Akaba have signed on September, 18th within the Investment forum in Sochi the memorandum of mutual understanding in the field of agriculture. As has informed Skrynnik, mutually cooperation between Russia and Abkhazia will be carried out first of all in such fields of agrarian and industrial area, as plant growing, animal farming, automation of agroindustrial manufacture and processing of agricultural cultures. According to the Minister of Agriculture of Abkhazia, "memorandum signing is an event, an impulse to development of agriculture in the republic". "We now do not speak about any huge projects in agriculture, our problem consists in creating the minienterprises with a full production cycle, first of all, in animal farming", - has told Aqaba. The head of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia has added that within the limits of cooperation with Abkhazia "we will exchange also experts, the advanced methods and technologies".
A very interesting meeting between both ministers. No promises were made at this time. I would like to come on some points to the agriculture in Abkhazia. Thus the thesis "cattle production" has arisen in Abkhazia years ago. There were at no time before the Russian conquest any bigger cattle-production in Abkhazia, at least there are no findings or recordings about such a thing. The first recording about the attempt to produce larger amounts of cattle in Abkhazia came from German colonists in late 19 centuries (called Seperatists) but this attempt was very fast stopped by fever illnesses and toxic herbs almost the whole herds from Europe killed under the sky of Abkhaza. Also the Estonians the czar in the end of 19 centuries to Abkhazia expelled, did report about the difficult cattle breeding in the country. Also in newer days, the days of the USSR, there were plannings of the Soviet ministry of agriculture to support the cattle breeding in Abkhazia. Thus vast amounts were sent to Abkhazia to strengthen the cattle breeding, however, after the eradication of most fever illnesses, this project got not lucratively because other factors like toxic grass and land need made problems. So Abkhazia could also never pursue a more actual cattle breeding like the countries of the Baltic States or the Ukraine during late 80`s. During the Soviet Union, agriculture in Abkhazia was dominated by tea, citrus and tobacco production. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Abkhaz/Georgian conflict, tea production dropped by over 80%, the tobacco market collapsed, citrus production and cattle breeding greatly declined.
Current
Current rural livelihood strategies in Abkhazia are dominated by mixed subsistence farming with small elements of cash cropping. Cash for essential items such as manufactured food, clothes, education and medical services is obtained from the sale of cash crops and/or surplus farm production. Less common sources of income include employment, pensions, IDP payments, family remittances and humanitarian aid. Current livelihood strategies are vulnerable to shocks such as plant and livestock disease, bad weather conditions and inadequate nutrition of livestock.
All villages have functioning schools, shops, corn mills and regular electricity supply, but other
infrastructure is in poor condition; water supply systems do not exist or are damaged and only partially function, roads and bridges need repair, river banks are being seriously eroded, factories and farms are derelict. The most serious weaknesses regarding agriculture are the poor condition and lack of availability of farm machinery and the lack of adequate fencing to protect crops from grazing livestock. The level of education and skills in rural areas is high, but there is a need to build farmers’ capacities to identify, develop and apply improved agricultural technologies and to improve the current weak understanding of market economy mechanisms. It was notable that women are more receptive to new ideas, knowledge and skills than men. There are clearly delineated responsibilities between men and women in terms of agricultural production, but most activities are undertaken by both, except where there are physical limitations. Men’s responsibilities are corn, large livestock, firewood and cash crops. Women’s responsibilities are productionof vegetables, poultry, fruit as well as fruit, vegetable and milk processing. Marketing is mainly carried out by women. Natural resources are abundant in Abkhazia and theoretically present no constraint to the expansion or intensification of agriculture. The large amount of abandoned land provides low cost grazing for livestock but is gradually deteriorating and the cost of bringing this land back into cultivation is increasing with time. Agricultural land in Abkhazia is deemed to be the property of the state but able for rent for many years. All rural householders have a garden plot and an area of land for corn production (up to 20% of all Agricultural Land of Abkhazia). Access to land, additional to the garden plot, was closely controlled by the state but did liberalize and grazing livestock are heavily dependent on abandoned or unused land, the rights to which are not explicit. Ninety percent of
households keep cattle, reflecting their significance in the farming system but no large cattle-plant. All farmers also reported keeping both pigs and poultry. Rural employment is low but changing to the better (because of migration).
Pensioners qualify for either Russian pensions or Abkhaz pensions; both of which are paid regularly.
Many Georgian families in Gali qualify for IDP status and receive a monthly payment from the
Georgian government. Borrowing from neighbours or relatives is widespread and loans are used for
purchase of essential foods, agricultural inputs, health costs, education and local ceremonies; no interest is charged. Commercial credit is hardly available; the Abkhaz government provides credit for state farms activities and also for starting up new private sector agricultural enterprises.
Abkhazia is situated on the eastern shores of the Black Sea and comprises a narrow coastal plane which quickly rises into the foothills and peaks of the main Caucasus mountain range; 75% of the land is classified as mountainous or foothills. The State classifies land by altitude (below 100m, 100-250m and above 250m); this appears primarily related to soil fertility- no systematic classification of agro-ecological zones was found. The climate is mainly humid subtropical but more temperate in the high valleys which are sparsely populated. Rainfall is high (1700-1800mm) with peaks of rain in late winter (November December) and early spring (February, March, April). Consequently the agriculture is predominantly rain fed.
Pre-soviet agriculture was dominated by livestock production in the upland areas; the coastal plain was originally wetlands which were drained in the 1930’s during the main period of Soviet collectivization thus substantially increasing the agricultural productivity of the territory. A notable feature is the presence of thermal springs in the coastal plain, which are harnessed for hothouse vegetable production and for health resort tourism. Abkhazia has abundant forests particularly in the higher valleys. During the Soviet period, agriculture in Abkhazia was dominated by tea, citrus (mostly mandarins) and tobacco production. At its peak Abkhazia was supplying 15-20% of the tea demand of the former Soviet Union and peak annual production levels were 110,000 tonnes of tea, 120,000 tonnes of citrus and 14,000 tonnes of tobacco. In addition there were large areas of Tung trees grown for industrial oil production as well as smaller specialised activities comprising chicken breeding, dairy farming, essential oil and silk production. Apart from the state farm sector rural households grew fruit trees, vegetables and hazelnuts and kept small numbers of livestock.
Following the fall of the Soviet Union, state agriculture collapsed due to the loss of support mechanisms and dislocation of markets. Tea production has dropped by over 80% and large areas of tea plantation are abandoned. The tobacco market also collapsed and the crop is now rarely grown, the citrus market has survived the transition but the lack of inputs and destruction during the conflict means that production is a fraction of former levels. The hazelnut crop has become more economically significant especially as a cash crop supporting the livelihoods of individual households. The collapse of the state sector employment followed by the Abkhaz conflict and consequent depopulation has led to a rural economy dominated by household subsistence agriculture in the midst of large areas of abandoned land and plantations.
The farming system is low input low output with a minimal reliance on external inputs. Seeds of
vegetable and corn are saved, virtually no pesticides are applied, livestock graze extensively and are fed corn straw and ground corn in winter. Sowing, weeding and harvesting of corn is mainly by hand. The only external inputs commonly used include Nitrogen fertiliser, fuel and machinery hire for cultivation and veterinary medicines which are mostly applied on a reactive basis. The traditional cash crops (citrus and hazelnut) have established external private sector markets which have evolved following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Firewood for heating and cooking is gathered from local forests where rural inhabitants have established rights of collection.
The availability and condition of machinery is poor and most households hire a tractor and driver to
undertake essential cultivations. Tractors are owned by state farms or by individuals who have somehow acquired ownership; state farms often allow former engineers or drivers to provide machinery services as a self-sustaining business. The low availability of machinery services often result in untimely and inadequate corn cultivations with attendant costs to production.
The seasonality of labour is typical for a single cropping season with peaks relating to planting and
harvesting. The main planting season for corn is April and May, vegetable planting begins earlier in
March, and weeding and fertiliser application takes place in June July and August. The harvesting peak begins with hazelnuts in August, followed by fruits (September, October), corn (October, November) and citrus (November and December). An additional labour demand is for collection of timber, which for most villages studied took place in August/September but occurred in November in two upland villages (Agubedia and Saberio). Timing of labour peaks for men and women are similar, reflecting the considerable sharing of tasks, but the extent of labour peaks tended to be greater for women due to their involvement in vegetable (earlier planting) and fruit (protracted harvesting) production, plus fruit and vegetable preservation. The village of Labra with a farming system oriented to multiple cropping of vegetables exhibited a high constant labour demand.
Cash for the purchase of essential items such as manufactured foodstuffs, clothes and education and
medical services is obtained from the sale of cash crops, i.e. hazelnuts and citrus (N.B. not all households grow these crops) and from the sale of surplus farm production, including dairy products (mainly cheese), meat, vegetables and occasionally corn. Other sources include vegetables as a cash crop, production and sale of honey and the sale of manufactured items such as baskets from wild hazel and brushes from special grasses.
Agricultural based incomes occur in the latter part of the year, usually starting with the hazel harvest in August, followed by corn (if sold) in October/November and citrus in December. Vegetable sales may provide income earlier, but only in villages where vegetables are a significant cash crop (e.g. Labra,Kindgi). While the hazel harvest takes place in August actual sales are spread over 3-4 months to take advantage of rising post harvest prices.
Detailed data on cash incomes was not collected, but some examples are given below:
• Vegetable sales at height of season (2-3 months) can bring in $200 per week – Labra farmer
(cash cropping not surplus sales)
• Plantation of 100 hazel trees provided income of $2000 – Saberio farmer
• Plantation of 50 mandarin trees provides an income of $2000 – Saberio Farmer
Cash income from livestock and dairy products is usually less than the cash crops mentioned here but the regular nature of income from dairy products and the possibility of converting livestock to cash at any time are important factors for household survive.
The main agricultural expenditures occur earlier in the year than incomes are generated particularly
spring cultivation costs which for a typical 1 Ha corn field are $100 for hire of machinery, $50) for fuel and $80 for fertiliser. These demands on the household budget are aggravated by the increasing shortage of home produced products, which occurs from February to June, necessitating additional cash expenditures.
All households with land and animals are liable for local taxes. Land tax (rent) is due both on the
household plot and the corn land; tax levels vary from district to district and according to land use
(household, annual crops, perennial crops etc.). Charges are typically 50 (2$) to 100 (4$) roubles per year per 1000 m2; for example a household with 0.5 Ha of household land and 0.5 Ha of corn land would pay between $25-$45. There are exemptions and reductions for government officials and for the disabled or widowed; enforcement is benign and in bad harvests payments may be reduced, made payable in kind or even waived for poor households. There is also a grazing animal tax of between $2-3 per animal; this is much less easy to enforce than land tax and avoidance is commonplace.
Employment is not a significant aspect of rural livelihood strategies. There are appreciable levels of
employment in a few villages with functioning state farms or with state enterprises such as the Inguri power station but otherwise rural employment levels are limited to the few who work in schools,ambulatories, local government and larger private enterprises. Additional sources of cash income are state pensions, IDP payments, borrowing from neighbours and remittances from families in Sukhum, Gagra,Russia or Georgia.
Gender Issues
There are clearly delineated responsibilities between men and women in terms of agricultural production, but most activities are undertaken by both except where there are physical limitations or in food processing, which women dominate. Men have overall responsibility for corn production, large animal production (buffalo, cattle, pigs), timber collection, cash crops (hazelnut, citrus) and grapes. Women’s main responsibilities are vegetable production, poultry production, non-citrus fruit production, dairy production and fruit and vegetable processing. Marketing is usually carried out by women although decisions about what, when and where to market are taken by men or by men and women together.
Predominantly Women’s
Tasks
Predominantly Men’s Tasks Tasks Undertaken by
Men and Women
Management of Vegetable
Production
Preparation of Dairy Products
Market Trading
Stock keeping Poultry
Vegetable and Fruit processing
Vegetable Seed production
Manufacture of grass brooms
Water collection if necessary
Management of Corn
Production
Soil cultivations
Stock keeping (large animals)
Winter fodder collection and
storage
Fruit (citrus and grapes)
Fruit pruning
Timber collection
Tobacco picking
Basket weaving
Planting corn
Milking
Feeding animals
Planting vegetables
Applying fertiliser
Weeding veg. + corn
Harvesting vegetables,
fruit and corn
Tea cultivation
Hazelnut harvesting
Fruit harvesting
Women tend to work marginally longer hours than men in periods of low agricultural labour demand
(10.7:8.7 hours/day) but at busy periods both work equally long days (11.7h/d). As expected women
devote much more time to reproductive activities (child care, cooking, etc) than men (4.6:1.1 h/d) but both reduce the time devoted to reproductive activities in times of high agricultural labour demand (2.8:0.3 h/d). The contribution of women to productive activities (agriculture, income generation) is significant comprising between 57% and 76% of their working day.
Physical Assets
Physical assets means infrastructure (including the means of production) and communications. All villages studied have a functioning school; some have been rehabilitated by village efforts with or without support from agencies such as UNHCR or the Abkhaz Government, but most schools require further rehabilitation.
For villages situated on, or very close to, the main highway road conditions are adequate. For
villages a significant distance from the M27 the connecting roads are in a poor condition. All villages referred to damage caused by the annual fierce river flooding which undermines road bridges and in some cases is actively eroding cultivatable land.
Telephone communications in villages are every where or nearly and even Internet-connection (LAN). Electricity supply is regular but inadequate or damaged transformers.
Almost all processing factories (except for a few tea factories) and intensive farming units are abandoned and derelict.
Natural Resource Assets
All agricultural land in Abkhazia is corruntly the property of the state and private ownership is not permitted (law is changing). Land
is managed by the local government, according to principles dating back to the Soviet Union. Given the significant depletion in population and degeneration of the state farms, land is currently in abundant supply. However, in some villages considerable areas of land are tied up in abandoned plantation crops such as tea and tung trees, which cannot easily be transferred back into arable cropping. Access to land requires certain administrative procedures and these appear straightforward. Finance, machinery and labour are more significant constraints to the expansion of land use. All rural householders have a garden plot adjacent to the house which varies from around 0.2 to 1.0 Ha. This land is permanently associated with the house and the owners of the house have certificate affirming their right to use this land. This certificate and right is inheritable. The plot can be expanded if land is available but this is not common. The garden plot is mostly used for vegetables, fruit trees, perennial cash crops as well as for fodder storage and winter housing of livestock; households may also cultivate corn on part of the garden plot. Some villages have consistent plot sizes (e.g. Kindgi 0.25Ha, and Kutol 0.5 Ha) while others have considerable variations in plot size (Labra and Tamish). The majority of household gardens are 0.5 Ha or less, but some villages such as Kindgi and Mziuri have smaller plots (0.25 Ha or less). A few villages have a notable proportion of larger gardens (over 0.5 Ha) i.e. Agubedia and Tamish.
Households invariably rent an additional area of land for corn production. The size of plot varies from 0.2 to 1.0 Ha. A small number of farmers having larger plots. The land is on cornfields which
are allocated to the village by the district land management department based on identified needs and capabilities of the village households. The land is designated for annual crop use and can only be rented on an annual basis (2,3,4,5 and up to 30 years), but all households reported using the same piece of land from year to year. Within the village the land rental is managed by the village administration, in some cases households rent corn land directly from the local state farm. There are less pronounced differences in sizes of cornfield between villages compared to the garden plots.
All citizens have the right to rent larger areas of annual crop land on a yearly (2,3,4,5 and up to 30 years) basis or rent land for perennial crops or for other rural land uses on longer
leases. This requires application to the district office for land management including a project proposal.
Livestock
Ninety percent of all households keep cattle reflecting their significance in the farming system. The
majority of households have five cattle or less, but in some villages (Kutol, Agubedia,
Kindgi and Okumi) over 40% have more than 6 animals. Labra, Tamish, Saberio and Mziuri have much lower levels or even none of these larger herds and Mziuri, Saberio and Okumi have notable levels of households without cattle. The reasons for the significant differences in holding of animals are complex, but important factors include the availability of labour in the household, the availability of grazing land, access to alternative income streams and interest in livestock production.Very few households have buffalo except in villages located on or near the coastal plain where conditions
are better for them. Households with buffalo rarely have more than three animals and normally only one; the proportions of households with buffalo in Tamish (12%), Kutol (25%), Kindgi (30%) and Okumi (10%). Goats, only in very few households (<1%>
they are commonly kept in herds larger than 10. There is notable levels of horse ownership by ethnic Abkhaz but not Greeks,Armenians or Georgians. The significance of these differences is not clear but is probably related to historical ownership and use of horses. The horses are used for draft purposes. All farmer respondents reported keeping pigs and poultry. Pig numbers rarely exceeded 5 per household and poultry numbers varied from 20 to 30 including turkeys and ducks.
Perennial Crops
There are two main categories of perennial crops: subsistence crops and cash crops. Subsistence
perennial crops comprise the fruit trees which are grown in the household garden and which usually occupy around 10% to 20% of the household land. The important perennial cash crops are hazelnuts and citrus (mandarin). Hazelnut trees are particularly popular as they are easy to establish, yield after only a few seasons and have a harvest that appreciates in value over time. Citrus is also popular but its distribution is limited by agro-ecological conditions and produce is perishable requiring rapid marketing. Not all households have perennial cash crops and this may be a useful indicator of
vulnerability. Abkhazia is well endowed with forests and all villages have a local forest designated for “civic usage”.
This forest is managed by the local administration who are entitled to levy a tax on wood extraction; however no village is currently paying for wood. There were no reports of collection of other forest products.
Credit
Households do not use banks on a regular basis either for loans or for savings; larger villages may have
offices for the disbursal of pensions and other government payments but these offices do not take
deposits. Borrowing from neighbours or relatives is widespread but is static or declining due to the low
availability of cash and the strong social requirement to repay. Loans range from
($12 to $7000) and are mainly used for essential foods, agricultural inputs, health costs, education and
local ceremonies. No interest is charged on these loans and the term of the loan is rarely fixed but usually understood to be “short term” and can be paid back on an intermittent basis. Repaying loans in kind, labour or services is possible but depends on the specific relationship, defaulting on these loans is rare. Village shops also provide short-term credit but of much smaller amounts 50 to 600 R and for shorter periods (days and weeks rather than months).
The only other formal lenders active in the rural areas are the Abkhaz government, which provides two types of credit. Firstly credit is provided to active state farms; loans are based on farm expenditure plans and have to be paid back within two years and can even be written off altogether. Interest rates are 30% for perennial crops and interest free for annual crops like tobacco. Secondly credit is provided for starting up new agricultural enterprises from the state privatization fund. Loans can be up to $20,000 and the interest rate is 17% p.a.; repayment does not begin until year 2
Incomes
Agriculture is the most important source of income in the villages and has increased in
importance in the recent past. Sale of surplus agricultural produce is the most common cash income
source; vegetables and fruit prices are low in periods of surplus and households prefer to sell meat, piglets and dairy products which are more under their control and can provide an income when required.
In the Armenian village Labra cash cropping of vegetables provides significant cash incomes for many
households. Rural employment (and consequent cash income) is mostly very low, significant levels are in the North and central Abkhazia from Tourism (3000-6000R).Pensions are an important and reliable social safety net reducing the
vulnerability of the elderly and providing a regular cash income into houses where elderly are present.
Those qualifying for a Russian pension receive 3900 R per month others receive the lower Abkhaz
pension of 770 R per month. Most of the Georgian families in Gali district qualify for IDP status and as
such receive 140 Lari ($60) per month from the Georgian government.
