The Mayor of Baza, Pedro Fernández, has requested a grant for 114,000 euros to create 50 vegetable plots, each with an area of 200 sq/m, to provide food for the unemployed. The money will also be used to train workers as farm labourers to work on existing farmland that requires a workforce.

The Town Hall will be working with the Asaja (agricultural union) to make the project viable. Each plot will have a 2-year, renewable lease, so 50 families will be able to produce for their own needs. Aspirants will be chosen using the same criteria as that used for giving temporary jobs to the unemployed on municipal projects; i.e., candidates will be selected according to how long they have been unemployed and their domestic dependencies.

If all goes well, the plots will be put into use this coming spring – that’s if the world doesn’t end this Friday. Each plot will also have an irrigation system using solar-powered pumps.

The grant, if awarded, will come from the Fomento del Empleo Agrario (fostering of agrarian employment) funds and a decision should be known before the year is out.

(News: Baza, Granada, Andalucia)