By Thomas Burns, Special Projects Consultant, Caucasus Regional Office

rekle Katamadze, a grape grower in the Guria region of western Georgia, has spent most of his life working on a collective farm. "Working together to produce a crop isn’t a bad idea in itself," he explains. "It’s when the state tells you what to grow and how to grow it, and then takes seventy percent of your harvest, that you begin to understand what it means to own your own land. It means freedom." With the Soviet system of collective farming a thing of the past, independent Georgia now grapples with the issue of privatization, and with it the complicated task of agricultural land reform.

Plagued by bureaucratic pitfalls and the lack of effective legal regulation, land reform in Georgia has developed slowly, particularly in the country’s outlying regions. Though many farmers now assume de facto ownership of the land they cultivate, the absence of an official land registration system has led to confusion regarding land ownership and now hampers the financial growth of even the most successful farmers. Registered land-owners have the right to sell or lease their land, to give or will it to others, and to use it as collateral for loans—one way to buy equipment and expand operations.

Dedicated to providing citizens with information on land reform and promoting policy changes, the Association for the Protection of Landowners’ Rights (APLR), a local Georgian nongovernmental organization (NGO), has played an influential role in advancing its country’s land reform. "State agencies lack comprehensive and up-to-date information, and private organizations often don’t have sufficient experience in dealing with land issues," explains Vano Merabishvili, director of APLR. "We wanted to create a place where Georgians could go to find concrete answers to their questions about land reform in Georgia."

In 1997, APLR received a Eurasia Foundation grant for $24,287 to establish an Information and Consulting center in Tbilisi. While APLR provides free consulting sessions to citizens with questions about land and the land reform process, they have also used the grant to publish Georgia’s first Landowner’s Handbook and conduct seminars for local businessmen, state workers, and private organizations. Eurasia funding has also enabled APLR increase its presence in Georgia’s regions, where land reform is of greatest concern. APLR opened a regional bureau in the town of Akhaltsikhe and an office in the village of Ude, where it provides consulting and seminars to local farmers and government officials.

  In 1998, APLR joined the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the consulting firm Booz-Allen Hamilton in a project to register agricultural land and distribute registration certificates to Georgian citizens. Establishing a land  registration system—a principal goal of land reform in Georgia—provides local farmers with financial options that will boost the economic growth of the entire sector. APLR estimates that over one million Georgian citizens are eligible to register their agricultural land.

In June 1999, APLR celebrated its largest victory to date at a ceremony in the small town of Zestaponi, where Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze personally distributed 200 land registration certificates to local farmers. Attended by US Ambassador Kenneth Yalowitz, USAID Caucasus Mission Director Michael Farbman, and local authorities, the event marked the first time Georgian farmers had fully owned their land since the Soviet occupation of Georgia of 1921. "Registering land ownership gives farmers the full strength of Georgian law in buying, selling, and leasing their land," explained Merabishvili to journalists and local farmers. APLR and USAID anticipate that by the end of 1999 some 70,000 to 80,000 certificates will be given out in Zestaponi and throughout Georgia’s regions.

For farmers like Erekle Katamadze, a certificate of registration has led to financial options he never thought possible. With a plan to buy a neighboring plot, Erekle expects to harvest an unprecedented five tons of grapes this season—four of which he will sell to winemakers. More importantly, Erekle and farmers like him are demonstrating an important aspect of land reform in Georgia: owning their own land encourages farmers to take responsibility for their own futures. "We’re not just talking about the right to buy and sell land; we’re talking about the right to manage our own lives," he explains. "Now we can decide for ourselves what to grow, and the profit gained is our profit. Owning your own land is an incentive to work harder, to live better."

APLR has proven itself a pioneer in Georgia’s post-Soviet land reform process. Its groundbreaking work with USAID in establishing an official and effective system of land registration has boosted the financial viability of the country’s agricultural sector as a whole and provided local farmers with valuable avenues for future growth.

October 1999

This document (c) 2001, The Eurasia Foundation.
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