
In previous articles we have discussed the visible deterioration of Georgia’s energy security, where energy demand keeps increasing and the share of domestic energy sources in overall primary supply (the gross amount consumed by the country over one year) is declining. Reversing this trend requires the country to accelerate the pace that it develops domestic – and mostly renewable – energy generation capacity; ideally in combination with greater efforts to improve energy efficiency.

On 9 December 2021, ISET Policy Institute conducted an online discussion, Remote work in times of COVID: How Georgia adjusted to challenges, in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce of Georgia (ICC).

Back in the summer of 2021, the Government of Georgia (GoG) worked on a 10-year strategic framework for different sectors of the economy including agriculture. In July 2021, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced the targets for the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA) under the government’s 10-year-strategic framework.

In the past year and a half since the pandemic began, we’ve all become familiar with phrases such as “supply chain disruption,” “turbulence and volatility in international markets,” and “in these unprecedented times,” often used to preface news about pandemic-related food price increases across the globe.

Kakheti is one Georgian region that is economically dependent on agriculture. According to data from the Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy 2021-2027, 40.1% of Georgia’s agricultural lands are within Kakheti, where its largest areas are arable lands, pastures, and vineyards, making it the leading region in the production of cereals, livestock, and wine. In 2020, wine production in Kakheti alone accounted for 75.5% of all the wine produced throughout the country.