Policy Documents

In 2013, population of Ditsi did not allow Indian businessmen to plant saplings on the village territory. As stated by one of the locals “they have seized our plots... Indians are here... We stopped them, this land belongs to our children, our village and our Georgia, not to Indians2”. At a glance, such attitude may seem fair, but in reality, it illustrates the constant fears of certain groups in Georgia. The “seizure” that the resident of Ditsi is talking about is not the same as the legal term “seizure”. The village local is alleging seizure of land that was never his to begin with. Since farmers in Georgia are used having agricultural land plots nearby that are not owned by anyone in particular and to them the state is more of an abstract owner than a real one, they’ve come to develop a perception that the land belongs to the village. Amidst such attitudes, the issue of sale of agricultural lands to foreigners, is speculated for many years by the ruling government.