On April 3, 2015 the Government of Georgia adopted a technical regulation in the dairy sector in order to define major principles for the production, processing, and distribution of dairy products. Later in 2017, the regulation was amended and the law now strictly regulates the labelling of dairy products and particularly the use of terms such as “cheese” and “butter”.

Did you know what Georgia produces most and what the share of its production worldwide is? Wine and copper seem the obvious answers – but these would be wrong. The answer is, in fact, cryptocurrency: 15% of all Bitcoins in the world are mined in Georgia, perhaps a disproportionate figure given the country’s small size.

This report covers the process and results from the value chain analysis conducted on the hazelnut sector in West Georgia. The study presents a basis to shape interventions of the forthcoming ‘Phase II: Fairtrade & Organic Hazelnut Value Chain Development for Small Farmers in Western Georgia’ project, which is to be implemented by the Consortium (ELKANA, HEKS/EPER, ANKA and PAKKA) with the financial support of DANIDA.

Agricultural production has decreased by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. In spite of decline in agricultural production, FDI in agriculture has increased. While FDI in agriculture is relatively low compared to the other sectors of Georgian economy, it should be noted that, agricultural FDI in the second quarter of 2018 reaches its maximum for the last three years.

After three consecutive quarters of improvement, BCI in the third quarter of 2018 has worsened, dropping to 35.4 index points, which is a 4.2 index point loss over the previous quarter. The BCI drop is based on lowering expectations and worsening of past performance in many business sectors. Compared to other sectors, manufacturing assessed their past performance and expectations the most pessimistically. In contrast, the agriculture sector is the most positive, reflecting a high season in production.