The Republic of Georgia was among the fastest Former Soviet Union countries to implement large-scale land reform and land redistribution plans, starting in 1992. Land redistribution resulted in the formation of hundreds of thousands of small family farms, replacing large-scale collectives and production cooperatives (Sovkhozez and Kolkhozes). The main purpose of this land individualization process was, arguably, to help a large part of the population survive extremely hard times.

Nino Kvirkvelia and her husband Irakli Todua are not exactly your typical Georgian smallholders. Both spouses are well-educated (both hold economics and business degrees from reputable Georgian institutions). More importantly in the context of Georgian agriculture, the couple owns 28(!) hectares of arable land in Georgia’s horticultural heaven, Samegrelo, best known for its hazelnuts.

Along with a recent interview by a Japanese journalist on regional economics and the attendance of a Japanese student in the Class of 2018, ISET is broadening its Japanese experience with a visit to Tokyo.

ISET’s Pati Mamardashvili and her co-authors Grigorios Emvalomatis (University of Dundee) and Pierrick Jan (Agroscope, Switzerland) have recently published their research in the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (JARE). The JARE is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes creative and scholarly economic studies in the fields of agriculture, natural resources, and other related areas.

For the likes of Boris Johnson, currently UK’s most popular politician and a leading figure of the Brexit revolt, “The European Union has become too remote, too opaque and not accountable enough to the people it is meant to serve.” But how about the UK itself? How close are 10 Downing Street or Westminster to the working-class folks of England’s industrial north? How representative is Britain’s Eton-educated ‘political class’ of the people they are meant to serve?