By the end of April, food prices increased by 4.0% on an annual basis (that is, compared to April 2016) but decreased by 0.9% on a monthly basis (that is, compared to March 2017). During the last two weeks of April, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes showed the biggest increase in prices by 23.2%, 13.5%, and 10.1%, respectively.

The village of Chkhakaura is located en route to the famous Bakhmaro resort in the Gurian Mountains. This settlement is not only in a picturesque environment but also the home of hard-working people, some of whom we introduced in our success story about the agricultural cooperative “Samegobro 2014”. Since their registration as a formal cooperative back in 2014, this group of fish farmers is becoming increasingly successful.

On Sunday, April 23, the Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC) of the ISET Policy Institute was invited to participate in an information fair, the “US-Georgia Friendship Fair”, dedicated to the celebration of the 25th anniversary of U.S. – Georgian diplomatic relations, organized by the Embassy of the United States to Georgia. ISET's representatives showcased the successful cooperation between the ISET Policy Institute and USAID.

Representatives of ISET and the ISET Policy Institute visited JSC Georgian Greenhouse Corporation (hereinafter, Planta), the largest greenhouse in Georgia, within their remit to introduce second-year MA students to the practical side of their agriculture-related studies at ISET.

Back in 2013, the Government of Georgia (GoG) approved a new law entitled “On Agricultural Cooperatives.” The primary goal of this legislation was to support agriculture and rural development in the country by strengthening agricultural cooperatives. Since then, agricultural cooperatives have been springing up like mushrooms; 13,000 farmers have already been registered in 1,500 cooperatives. In order to strengthen their capacity, donors led by the European Union have been providing financial assistance as well as trainings and advisory services to cooperatives and their members.