After many years of chaos and utter collapse, Georgia’s once glorious tea industry is again showing signs of life. More and more individual farmers and businesses – mostly very small, but some quite ambitious, such as Geoplant (known for its “Gurieli” brand) – grow, process, and pack tea. Despite competition from major producing countries and international brands, Georgian tea has great export potential because of the value attached to it all over the former Soviet Union.

On November 5th, 2015 APRC at ISET Policy Institute presented the final results of a study called Regulatory Impact Assessment on crop insurance in Georgia. The goal of the workshop was to present and discuss the final results of RIA which was conducted by the APRC team from June to October 2015.

The project analyzes the connection between knowledge gaps and production outcomes and structural and social change in Georgian agriculture. The potential impact of agricultural extension and training efforts as well as capital relief measures are estimated econometrically, and recommendations are given whom to target with these policy interventions.

Agricultural Policy Research Center and Energy and Environment Policy Research Center are working on a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on draft Law on Irrigation/Drainage and methodology for irrigation/drainage tariff calculation in Georgia. Report will make recommendations on different policy options for developing an efficient system of Irrigation and Drainage services in the country.

October Retail FPI was pretty stable showing a negligible 0.1% decrease in the 4th week of October compared to the middle of the month. (See the diagram with Retail FPI dynamics on the right).