The "Local Economic Development (LED) in Georgia" project, implemented by a consortium led by HELVETAS and commissioned by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), aims to strengthen Georgian actors’ involvement in LED. Moreover, it incorporates an overarching objective “to contribute to increasing employment and income of rural women and men in their localities by enhancing effective collaboration among local and national actors (public, private, civil society) for the creation of new economic opportunities.”

Back in the summer of 2021, the Government of Georgia (GoG) worked on a 10-year strategic framework for different sectors of the economy including agriculture. In July 2021, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced the targets for the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA) under the government’s 10-year-strategic framework.

Imagine spending some time in the countryside away from the noisy, dusty city, getting involved in agricultural activities, and discovering the local culture. This kind of tourism is called agritourism.

Agricultural and rural development play an important role in the country’s socio-economic development. The restrictions imposed during the pandemic have hindered spring agricultural works which have significantly worsened conditions for farmers and stalled their future potential. Consequently, the Georgian government developed an anti-crisis plan, “Caring for Farmers and Agriculture”, that was presented on 12 March. The proposal entails two forms of aid: direct assistance and sectoral support.

On March 11, representatives of the Bern University of Applied Sciences, School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL), Dominic Blaettler (Ph.D. Social Sciences, Professor of Rural Development and Innovation, BFH-HAFL) and Pia Fehle (MSc Agricultural Sciences, Research Associate, BFH-HAF) visited ISET in the framework of the HAFL-ISET/APRC initiative.