Hospitality is one of the most prized aspects of Georgian culture. Welcoming (literal translation: "respecting") guests is a matter of great pride for any family. My mother grew up in a small Imeretian village, and as she tells me, the kids of the family were not allowed to eat until the guests were fully "respected", i.e. properly fed. Even the poorest household in the village would go out of its way (and income) to impress its guests with a cornucopia of local delicacies, meats, veggies, and homemade wine.
In this study, the role of Family Farming was assessed with regard to three dimensions (economic, environmental and social) of sustainable development. Literature review, SWOT analysis, individual interviews with stakeholders and case studies were conducted in order to define the role of Family Farming in the sustainable development of Georgian agriculture.
On September 22-26, 2014 researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) in Germany visited ISET in the framework of their research tour to Georgia. Several panel discussions and workshops were conducted with the goal to discuss current challenges of agriculture and rural development in transition countries.
With Russia creating or helping sustain so many “frozen conflicts” on its periphery, it is crucially important for countries and nations finding themselves in this predicament to work a sound strategy of dealing with the situation. The military option has been taken off the table ever since the August 2008 attempt by Georgia to forcefully bring South Ossetia back into its fold. Thus, countries such as Moldova, Georgia, and now also Ukraine, don’t have too many good alternatives to choose from.
When planning a debate about the impact of the new Rooms hotel on the local community in Kazbegi we expected it to be a mixed bag. A colleague who visited Kazbegi Rooms on a private reconnaissance mission told us how much he enjoyed his stay, but added: “for some reason, the relationship between the hotel and the villagers is best described as complex”.