A world without poverty is the number one goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet, poverty risks have been exacerbated globally in recent years, due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war on Ukraine. Researchers currently estimate that between 760 and 873 million people around the world will be living in extreme poverty in 2022.

MOLI stands for “Market Opportunities for Livelihood Improvement” in Kakheti. The project started in autumn 2012 and initially focused on milk and meat producers in the eastern part of the Kakheti region. It now operates in all eight municipalities of the region. In the second phase of the project, MOLI aims to reduce poverty in the Kakheti region while facilitating improved access to milk, beef and pork markets, and easing farmers’ access to inputs and services.

Once the wealthiest Soviet republic, Georgia has since fallen far behind other post-Soviet states (except for, perhaps, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova) in almost any parameter of wellbeing. Adjusted for purchasing power parity, Georgia’s annual income per capita in 2012 was close to $5,900 (a little higher than in resources-poor Armenia).

Family Farming is the predominant form of agriculture. It represents the main source of income in rural areas and produces majority of agricultural products in Georgia.