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.”
The study examines challenges to Georgia’s economic and democratic development that accompany growing presence of Russian business ownership in the country; and seeks to heighten awareness among key stakeholders (i.e. government, civil society organizations, development partners) and the Georgian public regarding the associated risks and threats.
In January 2023, the average cost of cooking one standard portion of Imeretian khachapuri increased annually – ranging between 6.88 GEL (Batumi) and 7.25 GEL (Telavi), with an average cost of 6.93 GEL. This latest average price is 19.7% higher than in January 2022.
This semi-annual report provides an analysis of economic trends, as well as denoting the challenges and opportunities (in local, regional, and global contexts) across selected value chains within six sectors to improve evidence-based decision-making through the provision of quality information and analytics.
Pollution is an existential threat to modern society, one which endangers both human and planetary health. It includes contaminating the air with ozone, sulfur, nitrogen-containing nitrous oxides, and delicate particulate matter (PM2.5). Reduction of air pollution is a key aspect of Green Growth, which, together with attaining the goals of the Paris Agreement, could save around a million lives a year worldwide by 2050 (Rijsberman, 2019).