COTTON HARVEST IN JIZZAKH AND SYRDARYA PROVINCES

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 001933 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2017 TAGS: ECON ELAB PGOV PHUM SOCI UZ SUBJECT: COTTON HARVEST IN JIZZAKH AND SYRDARYA PROVINCES Classified By: POLOFF R. FITZMAURICE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D). ¶1. (C) Summary: During a two-day tour of Jizzakh and Syrdarya provinces on October 31 and November 1, poloff met with local officials and several USG international exchange program alumni (septel),who described the recent cotton harvest in the two provinces, with local officials being more upbeat than the alumni. The alumni also reported that their schools were closed for approximately one month during the harvest and that students from grades 9th through 12th were conscripted. Separately, poloff observed children that appeared to be younger than 15 also picking cotton. End summary. ¶2. (C) Hokimiyat (provincial administration) officials in Jizzakh and Syrdarya reported exceeding their cotton harvest quotas for the year, as well as performing better than last year. Officials in Jizzakh said that they had collected 255,000 tons of cotton, while officials in Syrdarya reported collecting 250,000 tons. Embassy Agricultural FSN could not yet confirm those numbers against official government figures or those from other sources, but he believed that they were realistic considering the good weather for cotton growing this year. On the other hand, alumni in Jizzakh disagreed with the officials and said that the harvest was much lower than officially reported. ¶3. (C) The alumni in both Jizzakh and Syrdarya province, all of whom were teachers or administrators at secondary schools or high educational establishments, told poloff that their classes, as usual, were cancelled for approximately one month this year for the cotton harvest. In Jizzakh, the alumni said that teachers participated in the harvest for about a week each, while in Syrdarya, alumni said that teachers were forced to supervise the students for the entire month. ¶4. (C) In both provinces, the alumni reported that students from the 9th through the 12th grades (ages 15 to 18),and from universities and institutes, were forced to pick cotton, but not students from lower grades. Nevertheless, while driving on the outskirts of Jizzakh city that morning, poloff saw a certain number of girls who were clearly younger than 15 years old picking cotton in the presence of an older woman (Comment: Poloff is a former Peace Corps volunteer who taught 5th through 8th grade at a school in Turkmenistan, and therefore has a basis for comparison. End comment.) Separately, a contact provided pol-econoff with a set of pictures of students collecting cotton in Ferghana province this year. Although it is impossible to confirm the exact age of the students in the pictures, several of them appear to be younger than 15 years of age (Comment: Post will email the pictures to the desk. End comment.) ¶5. (C) When asked by poloff, local officials insisted that they did not conscript students for the cotton harvest, instead claiming that all labor was freely provided by farmers and "patriotic citizens." ¶6. (C) Comment: As long reported by post and other observers, authorities in Uzbekistan's provinces continue the Soviet-era practice of relying on involuntary labor from public and private enterprises to pick cotton each year. While most observers agree that the bulk of the labor comes from older students and adults, younger children also continue to work in the fields. NORLAND