"Mobile Development” for the Displaced

LIKE VIRTUALLY ALL GEORGIANS who lived in Abkhazia before its 1992-94 war with the rest of Georgia, Eliso Kakhiani fled the region. She and her husband, who both left in 1993, have not returned to their homes once.
A schoolteacher originally from the western town of Gali, Kakhiani is like many internally displaced persons (IDPs)—except in one respect. Despite the fact that she cannot go home and has little realistic hope of doing so in the near future, she decided to found an organization that would develop bonds among IDPs while at the same time providing them with desperately needed resources.
In 1998, Kakhiani founded a Farmer’s Union, naming it after her son, Koka, who had been a newborn when the family fled Abkhazia and was now growing up separated from his home. Koka now operates as both a credit union and a group farming endeavor. Working for Koka has helped a handful of Georgian IDPs not only come to terms with displacement but has given them increased self-worth. The NGO presents a unique example of “mobile development,” in which members create a structure that could return to Gali with them if returning becomes possible. Most IDPs are reluctant to engage in development for fear that
such actions support the long-term nature of their displacement.
In May 1998, a renewed flare-up in fighting known as the “ten-day war” drove another 40,000 persons from the Gali region. After this exodus from Gali, Kakhiani went to Zugdidi, a town on the Georgian side of the militarized border of Abkhazia. There she found some of her acquaintances, who were living in horrible conditions. She brought 16 of them to Tbilisi to live with her family. That made 20 people crowded into two dormitory rooms whose space totaled 40 square meters, including the toilet area. For six months they survived like this. During that time they planned ways to improve their situation.
Adequate food was an issue, and so the group agreed to take up the endeavor of cooperative farming. Kakhiani set off to see the minister of agriculture, Bakur Gulua, with a newly developed initial business plan. Gulua offered a small grant from a French- sponsored program designed to set up agricultural credit unions. The program granted Koka 5,350 lari (two lari equal about $1).
The new Farmer’s Union quickly found a dilapi- dated abandoned house on a small farm in the village of Chitatskari near Zugdidi and secured permission
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Give & Take
ISAR • Spring 2000
The underlying objective of the NGO meetings has been to establish civic trust through public and honest discussion, the lack of which was probably the most important cause of armed conflict in 1992. The resulting dialogue has now grown to include politicians, conflict resolution specialists, philosophers, psycholo- gists, sociologists, journalists, historians, and more. The interaction has transformed the dialogue from one in which individuals express themselves through emotion to one in which professionals cooperate with and listen to their colleagues.
Given the success of the informal meetings, a new development on the diplomatic front is taking shape. The official structures of power have decided to involve themselves in the NGO meetings, a potentially danger- ous change that threatens to slow progress. Though we as NGO representatives wish to cooperate with interested government organs, we want to collaborate as equal partners, not as government satellites. Unfor-
tunately, the apparent goal of the government is to use the NGO network of channels to influence opponents and international organizations. We have no desire to give up our small successes to those who have a much wider format for dialogue but have not yet overcome their own delusions that have frozen the political negotiations for so long.
Participants of the NGO meetings clearly under- stand that a final resolution to the conflict in Abkhazia is the work of politicians. However, a huge number of problems remain that can only be overcome by a strong and independent civil society. The results of the Georgian-Abkhaz meetings will not disappear, but rather create the basis for the formation of a new society that will center itself on civic values. ●
Paata Zakareishvili works for the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development. Translated by Amy L. Wilson.
“Mobile Development” for the Displaced
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from its owner to use it and the surrounding land. Because the group had no farming equipment, they began by growing seedlings. The money they raised by selling the seedlings allowed the Union to rent more land on which to grow crops.
Koka consists of 30 members: 22 women and eight men. Two of the collective’s members live in the run- down Chitatskari house, while 15 others live in nearby IDP centers and commute to the farm by trolleybus. Three others live near Tbilisi in Rustavi, and 10 live in Tbilisi, where they sell the collective’s products. These now geographically separated colleagues share strong ties to the Gali region and also feel a familial closeness to their current agricultural mission. Their IDP friends and neighbors are interested in replicating Koka’s successes.
Koka’s members have a variety of backgrounds and skills: three former teachers, two former doctors, an agronomist, an agricultural technician, a communi- cations engineer, an accountant and additional workers. NoneofKoka’smembersreceiveasalary from the organization, but portions of the harvests have been shared amongst the members equally. Group members reported that they have experienced such trauma together within the IDP context that they could not conceive of restructuring their organization to compensate members differentially.
The initial 5,350 lari grant was used to purchase seeds and livestock for the organization and also to extend small credits to several of the members who engaged in farming separately and paid the organiza- tion back with interest. These expenses provided both food to the members and income to the organization in the form of interest earned on credits lent to members, as well as from the profit on produce sold. For example, Koka sold 500 Lari worth of corn, dairy products, cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables. An additional 300 Lari were earned as interest on the money originally credited to the members.
Each member holds a share of the collectives’ holdings worth 170 Lari. As these holdings grow, the value of each member’s share grows as well. Currently each share is worth 200 lari. Members could cash in their shares if they left the collective. Profits, though small, have grown since the organization’s founding.
Emotional Damage of Displacement
Perhaps more importantly, members of Koka have found increased self-confidence through their new skills and work. After leaving Abkhazia, Koka’s members at first faced total dependence on humanitar- ian assistance programs for their food and shelter.
Psychologically, working with Koka has returned a sense of purpose to their lives by giving them increased personal responsibility for their welfare.
For example, before joining Koka a woman named Dodo Ariani worked as a baker in a large factory, where management did not know employees’ names. After working with Koka over a month, Dodo returned to the bread factory to visit previous co-workers and was surprised to see the factory director greet her, shaking her hand and asking about her family. Dodo attributed this to her newly found pride in her new work with Koka, where she respected herself and found respect from others. She has found not only more satisfaction in her work, but a self-image and even higher status among others. For IDPs especially, such recognition and self-esteem make a big difference in their lives.
Particularly for women, a strengthened self-image is essential. Although Koka’s primary purpose has been farming, Koka has unwittingly contributed to an increase in women’s status. Through Koka, women have overcome depression, found jobs they appreciate, and attracted more positive attention from those around them. So far, these changes have not noticeably impacted the political participation of women or their decision-making authority in the home. But the development of greater self-confidence in women is certainly an added benefit of the small grants program.
Koka members hope their organization will grow from a means of survival into a real business. They plan to expand Koka’s resources, activities, and membership. Eventually, like virtually all IDPs, Koka members are committed to returning home once that becomes safe. They envision moving their organizational structure, enthusiasm, knowledge and experience with them. Although their crops remain in Zugdidi, Koka and its members could move home and farm new land. In this case “mobile development” means that skills learned and resources developed will follow the beneficiaries of the grant wherever they go.
Working with land, Kakhiani says, is rejuvenating, particularly for traumatized people from a war-torn region. Another unidentified member of Koka described the land as transformative. She puts her “sadness and evil” into the ground and buries it there. Hope then grows in its place. ●
Susan Allen Nan is a senior program associate for conflict resolution at the Carter Center in Atlanta. Special thanks to USAID’s Center for Development Information and Evaluation and Thomas Buck, Krishna Kumar, Meloney Lindberg and Alice Morton for supporting her research on Koka’s development.