On Thursday, November 15, the Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC) presented the results of its “Study on Private Service Providers in Organic Hazelnut Value Chain in Georgia” to stakeholders. The event was organized by HEKS-EPER South Caucasus, the ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI), and PAKKA AG, a Swiss holding.

The aim of the event was to discuss the key problems of the Georgian hazelnut sector and identify opportunities for cooperation between various stakeholders involved in solving the identified problems.

The head of the Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC) at the ISET Policy Institute, Pati Mamardashvili, moderated the meeting. The panel was made up of a number of executives and stakeholders, including the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Gela Khanishvili (who described the government’s strategy on hazelnuts as one of the priorities of the ministry); the Executive Director of the Hazelnut Processors and Exporter’s Association, Levan Kardava; the Project Manager of CNFA, Luiza Namicheishvili; Revaz Shonia, from the Kartlisi private sector service provider; and Irakli Khubua, a member of the Kolkha cooperative.

The study was presented by Ia Katsia, Senior Researcher of the Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC) at the ISET Policy Institute. Afterward, Davit Cheishvili from PAKKA AG presented the second phase of the ADA financed project, “Strategic Alliance: Facilitating the development of fairtrade and organic hazelnuts”.