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For a long time, it has been taboo to criticize the Orthodox Church in Georgia. Quite recently, however, the clergymen themselves lifted this taboo by publicly carrying out their conflicts. The visit of Pope Francis in September 2016 sparked a plethora of mutual accusations. Archpriest Davit Isakadze was against the Pope’s visit and blamed the two other Archpriests Toedore Gignadze and Aleksandre Galdava for being sectarians and church enemies.
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On March 7-8, ISET’s ENPARD team with an M&E coordinator from CARE, took a field trip to Adjara, hosted by UNDP Adjara, which is one of the implementer of the ENPARD project (agricultural cooperative development across Georgia). UNDP Adjara recently became involved in the Annual Cooperative Survey, which has been carried out from the beginning of the implementation of the ENPARD project by other ENPARD implementer consortia (Care, Oxfam, Mercy Corps and PIN).
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Retail food prices in Tbilisi supermarkets increased by 1.4% m/m (that is, compared to the middle of February) and 3.8% y/y (that is, compared to March of 2016). On a biweekly basis, the biggest price increases happened for eggplants, onions, and rice (price increased by 34.3%, 21.7%, and 19.2%, respectively).
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According to the Retail FPI, by the end of February food prices had decreased slightly by 0.01% m/m (that is compared to the end of January), and by 2.6% y/y (that is compared to February 2016). Although overall FPI did not change very much either m/m or y/y, some foods experienced quite notable changes in prices.
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Food prices continue to follow the latest trends. Retail FPI shows a 2.6% increase m/m (that is, compared to January 2017) and a 4.9% decline y/y (that is, compared to February 2016). During the last two weeks, matsoni, tea, and carrots lost value (by 10.4%, 6.2%, and 6.2% respectively), whereas the prices of cabbage, greens, and eggplant increased (by 25.0%, 16.1%, and 14.9% respectively).