Agricultural production is associated with a variety of risks, including market, institutional, and production risks. An important production factor in agriculture is the weather. Its uncontrollable nature makes weather risk the prevailing risk to agricultural production. Farmers have various informal and formal means of transferring and mitigating these risks. Informal means include savings, diversification, off-farm activities, etc. The most common formal means of risk mitigation is insurance. Insurance is a contract that transfers the risk of financial loss from an individual or business to an insurance company.

On June 21, 2019, ISET’s Rati Kochlamazashvili moderated the Farmers’ Congress, which took place at the Hualing Hotel in Tbilisi. The congress discussed the Challenges and Opportunities of Strengthening Market Linkages for Smallholder Farmers.

Can VAT exemption on dairy products produced from domestic raw milk boost the competitiveness of Georgian dairy sector? The objective of the study was to estimate the potential impact of VAT exemption on dairy products on the competitiveness of the dairy sector in Georgia.

An agro insurance program was started in September 2014. The program is subsidized by the state and eight insurance companies participate in the program. The insurance package covers losses caused by hail, flooding, and storms, as well as by autumn frost (covered only for citrus). Since the beginning of the program, 49.3 thousand farmers (unique beneficiaries) have purchased insurance.

Land O'Lakes International Development is leading an innovative, demand-driven Safety and Quality Investment in Livestock (SQIL) project to improve food safety and quality within Georgia’s dairy and beef value chains. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (via Food for Progress) and aims to reduce losses, improve food safety and quality from farm to fork, and to boost competitiveness, productivity, and trade within the Georgian dairy and beef market systems.