Under the Soviet system, farmers worked under strong central control; everyone knew what to do. Important economic decisions were not left to the market or decided by self-interested individuals. Instead, the government, which owned or controlled much of the economy’s resources, decided what, when, and how to produce. Along with providing necessary inputs, the state ensured that farmers had access to markets for their goods.

On November 8-9, the ENPARD team at ISET-PI participated in the 'Interagency Conference about Three Years of Implementation of ENPARD – Cooperative Development Component'. The conference was organized by one of the ENPARD implementer consortiums led by People in Need, a non-governmental organization, at Akaki Tsereteli State University in Kutaisi.

ISET’s international experiences are continuing to diversify, as APRC researchers gave a series of presentations at the “Regional and International Cooperation in Central Asia and South Caucasus: Recent Developments in Agricultural Trade” conference which took in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, between November 1-4.

Georgian retail prices increased at the end of October. Driven by seasonal fruits and vegetables, ISET’s Retail Food Price index gained 2.2% m/m (compared to the last week of September). However, compared to October 2015, we still observed a significant 13.5% decline in food prices.

On October 28 and 29, CARE International in the Caucasus carried out its Direct Beneficiary Survey of ENPARD-funded cooperatives in the regions of Guria, Samegrelo, and Racha-Lechkhumi & Kvemo Svaneti.