On December 16, in cooperation with MOLI, ISET organized a dialogue on “The Role of Leaders in Modernizing Georgian Agriculture”. The MOLI (Market Opportunities for Livelihood Improvement) project is implemented by the HEKS/EPER office in South Caucasus with the support of the Swiss Government.

After a temporary increase at the end of October, driven by seasonal fruits and vegetables, in the last two weeks of November, ISET’s Retail Food Price Index decreased by 0.1% m/m (compared to the last week of October) and 12.1% y/y (compared to November 2015). We recorded the biggest drops for bananas (-12%), tomatoes (-12%), and beef (-7%). On the other hand, prices increased most for cabbage (10%), plums (8%), and cucumber (2%).

The Forum took place on 29 November 2016 in the framework of the EU-funded European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) in order to discuss some the key challenges Georgia’s agricultural cooperatives face with regard to access to finance. Please see the conference programme and presentations (listed below).

On 29 November 2016, in the framework of the EU-funded European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD), an Interagency Forum on “Access to Finance for Cooperatives” took place at the Hotels & Preference Hualing Tbilisi. The purpose of the forum was to discuss challenges and opportunities that cooperatives face with regard to access to finance.

Recently, the ISET Economist Blog wrote about the cooperative “Shamatia.” Their strawberry seedlings started to fade soon after planting. The cooperative consulted with different experts in the country to find the reason, and the solution for the problem, without success. Only after sending sample seedlings abroad was the cause of the problem revealed. In the meantime, however, the cooperative experienced losses of 15,000 GEL.