The European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development in Georgia (ENPARD Georgia) was implemented in March 2013. The main goal of the ENPARD program is to reduce rural poverty in Georgia.1 The total budget of the program is 102 million EUR. Through close cooperation with the government, civil society, and farmers, ENPARD is working on achieving three main goals:

• Building capacity and supporting government institutions in the reform of the agriculture and rural development sector;

• Improving employment and living conditions of rural populations by strengthening farmers’ cooperation skills and access to resources;

• Promoting diversified social and economic opportunities in rural areas, particularly for women and youth, with due respect to the environment and cultural heritage.

The Law of Georgia on Agricultural Cooperatives was passed on July 12, 2013. On October 1, 2013, the Agriculture Cooperatives Development Agency (ACDA) was established. The ACDA works under the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia (MoA). The ACDA is responsible for granting, terminating, and monitoring the status of agricultural cooperatives in Georgia.

Under the ENPARD framework, Evoluxer provides training programs for registered cooperative managers and management leaders and strengthens management capacity and proper governance at registered cooperatives. Furthermore, it works to improve awareness among cooperatives members of the meaning and purpose of cooperative enterprises and increases their sense of ownership of their cooperatives. Overall, the project aims to strengthen the institutional capacity and skills of the ACDA.

Project activities involve cooperatives throughout Georgia. In autumn 2016, Evoluxer, with the help of ACDA, ICCs, municipality administrations, sub-contracted Service Providers, selected trainers and started to provide training for agriculture cooperatives in Georgia.