Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is an economic tool for the comparison of costs and benefits associated with various alternatives. This tool is used to systematically estimate the strengths and weaknesses of different options of investing capital. It is a technique that is used to determine options that provide the best outcomes in terms of benefits in labor, time and cost savings, etc. The CBA is often used for calculating and comparing the costs and benefits of a project. Upon the request of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC) at the ISET Policy Institute conducted a pilot CBA of SDC funded project "Market Alliances against Poverty in Samtskhe-Javakheti Region of Georgia".The main objective of this analysis is to pilot Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) on the example of Alliances SJ project and develop policy recommendations based on the analysis as well as recommendations for improvement of Alliances SJ ME system. A similar methodology is to be applied to other SDC funded economic development projects in the future.

The project was implemented in scopes of the broader Inclusive Growth Dialogue Platform initiative of ISET PI, supported by the Swiss Cooperation Office for the South Caucasus (SDC).