On 25 November 2021, ISET Policy Institute presented the results of its Information quality standards for the participants and beneficiaries of the Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS) project. The project was supported by UNDP and implemented in collaboration with the Environmental Information and Education Center (EIEC) of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia (MEPA).

On 18 November, ISET’s Agricultural Policy Research Center presented the findings of its Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on the draft law on agritourism and thereafter discussed the associated socio-economic benefits and the costs.

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.

Food Loss and Waste (FLW) is one of the critical issues related to waste management in Georgia. A large amount of food still suitable for human consumption is wasted by Food Business Operators (FBOs) and large food retailers in particular due to the packaging or quality issues, expiration date, excess supply and consumption habits, which results in significant economic losses for these FBOs.

For the 4th quarter of 2021, business confidence in Georgia decreased slightly (by 5.8 index points) and reached 30.6. The highest decrease in business confidence is observed in construction (-21.0), service (-15.3), and agriculture (-8.8) sectors. A negative change in BCI for Q4 2021 was driven by worsened future expectations and past performance.