In September 2014 Agricultural Policy Research Centre (APRC) at ISET Policy Institute started training in “Value Chain Analysis” (VCA) for The Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia (MoA). The training was funded by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Twelve employees from different departments of MoA were trained. The aim of this training was to familiarize participants with the concept of VCA and present various qualitative and quantitative tools used in VCA.

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.

About 9 months ago, we were already discussing the oddities of egg prices in Georgia (“The Georgian Egg of Discord”, by Giorgi Kelbakiani and Eric Livny). At that time, huge volatility in egg prices could be explained by interesting political dynamics. Under the UNM government, local producers of eggs were largely protected from external competition through non-tariff import barriers, called by the ministry of agriculture a “complete violation of law and international agreements”.

On September 4, 2014, ISET Conference Hall hosted Dr Sophie Ghvanidze, Hochschule Heilbronn, with her presentation. Does Country-of-Origin Matter? The Case of Georgian Wine for German Wine Consumers". The purpose of this study is to identify dimensions of country images of Georgia in terms of benefits sought by German wine consumers of Georgian wine.

The main objective of this project is to analyse a possible impact of imposing 20% tariff on wine export from Georgia to Russia on grape prices in Georgia. In addition, the study aims to assess the impact of this possible tariff on the incomes of grape producers in Georgia. In addition, the study aims to assess the impact of this possible tariff on the incomes of grape producers in Georgia.