Darejan is a 49-year old single mother raising her child alone for years. At the same time, she is a farmer engaged in cultivating land, growing tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes and other vegetables, breeding cows and pigs. In winter, when the tourist season is over, she sells Rachan ham, cheese, dairy and other household products at Oni and Ambrolauri agrarian markets. Along with her hard work in the household, she looks after her elderly mother with special care needs. 

‘’When you have no one to give you a hand, you have to do it yourself. My day starts with work and ends with work. I get up at 6 a.m. to cook, make bread and clean the house. Then I go to feed my cattle. Once I am done with it, I go to my orchard. Then housework again, I take my child to school and private tutors. It is a hard work, quite difficult, but somehow I got used to it and now it seems a bit easier’’, says Darejan.

There are many women like Darejan in Georgia, who work on average 344 days in the agriculture while the men work 263 days a year. Women spend more time in the family farms; the cattle-breeding and plant-growing activities mostly involve a manual work which obviously requires special efforts from women. However, along with agricultural activities, it is believed as a woman’s job to process the products received from agricultural activity: cheese making, butter making, grinding of grains, etc. At the same time, women are mostly seen as the main caregivers who look after children, elderly and family members with disabilities or chronic diseases, which hardens their physical and emotional condition even more. Regardless of the responsibilities undertaken, the women interviewed in the study of gender issues in the agriculture and rural development (2018), carried out by FAO Georgia, still perceive themselves as ‘’helpers’’ in the household activities. Their hard work, quite often, is deemed to be of secondary importance.

"Distribution of work by gender means that different activities are shared between men and women by their gender roles. Quite often, due to such gender distribution, the women have restricted access to leisure, education and employment, because their role is often defined by social-cultural norms and women are seen as caregivers, mothers, providers of food, i.e. they are the executors of care and family duties’’, says Salome Kinkladze.

She also adds that women living in rural areas do not have adequate agricultural equipment or machinery that would significantly save their time wasted on uncompensated work.

In compliance with the article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the States recognize the special problems faced by rural women and along with many other promises, they take responsibility to create respectful living conditions for women. In particular, to provide them with living conditions, in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply systems, also transport and communications. Even though, Georgia joined the Convention on September 22, 1994, these problems still remain as an important challenge.

Nana Muladze, 53-year old lady from the village Tkotsa is no exception. The family has not had water for over two years, the well dried out and it is full of snakes. They have to fetch water from the nearby water springs. ‘’We have wasted so much energy on carrying water every day, this energy would be enough to plough 3-4 hectares of land’’, says Nana and adds that lack of water has significantly increased her workload as a housewife. The family lost earnings from agriculture, because, the lack of water does not allow them to grow vegetables, fruit and manage other farming activities (greenhouse, incubator, etc.). 3% of households have a similar problem in Georgia. These families do not have an excess to safe water. Considering how much time the women spend (three times more) on family and caregiving activities, lack of access to water and water infrastructure, increases their invisible workload enormously. This work is even harder in families with little children or family members with chronic diseases or disabilities. This situation is much more complicated due to infrastructural problems which disallow women to receive nursery or healthcare services. ‘’When you live with four children without anyone to give a hand, it is difficult to find free time. The kindergarten is quite far from here, it is difficult to take children there’’, says Miranda Bandzeladze, a mother of four; she also adds that the whole workload in the household, i.e. looking after children, cattle, poultry or orchard lies on the woman’s shoulders with no one around to help.

Similar to Miranda’s children, 23.3% of children (36-59 months) living in Georgian villages do not go to the kindergarten. The circumstances like: lack of kindergartens in villages, the transportation from home to the kindergarten (only 13% of rural families manage to take their children to the kindergarten), poor infrastructure of the kindergartens, deprive women of the right of free time.

‘’This problem is even more acute in women with many children, women with disabilities or mothers of children with disabilities. One of the key preconditions for the solution of these problems and ensuring the welfare of women, their families and children in rural areas is the development of social services and local infrastructure’’, says Salome Kinkladze.  

Even though women generally have different obligations in terms of care and work, all women living in villages have similar problems: poor infrastructure (absence of kindergartens, lack of water) and limited access to social services (healthcare services). It is extremely difficult to put together the household and care giving activities (looking after children and working in the farm). This workload negatively effects the psycho-physical welfare of women and also, gives rise to hidden barriers in terms of engagement in the social life. To eliminate these problems, not only the care and household activities shall be distributed, but the State shall also implement relevant policy and increase access to services.  

The article was prepared within the framework of Agriculture and Rural Development Project in Georgia implemented by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Georgia. The project is financially supported by Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC). The article was prepared as part of an awareness raising campaign ,,See and Redistribute Rural Woman’s Invisible Work’’ as part of the same project.

In 2020, small-scale investments were made to support rural women with a special focus on labor-saving agricultural equipment and/or machinery in Ateni, Plevi, Tvishi and Sori communities. Single parents, women with 3 or more children, women with disabilities and women living with sick and/or disabled family member(s) living in the above-noted communities were able to participate in the program.