On September 22-26, 2014 researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) in Germany visited ISET in the framework of their research tour to Georgia. Several panel discussions and workshops were conducted with the goal to discuss current challenges of agriculture and rural development in transition countries.

Both academic and policy discussions brought together several stakeholders of Georgian agriculture, such as Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA), EU Delegation to Georgia, GIZ, USAID, Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC) at ISET-PI, etc. Among others, topics such as policies for sustainable agriculture, development of modern agricultural value chains, agricultural trade policies of transition countries, the role of education and extension in agricultural development, and structural transformation pathways of farms in transition countries were discussed by the participants.

Further, IAMO PhD students and APRC researchers presented their works related to different agricultural issues. ISET students from the Agricultural Economics Concentration had a great chance to interact and exchange ideas with their colleagues from Germany. Finally, IAMO and APRC researchers visited Kakheti where they contributed to grape harvest and enjoyed Georgian food and wine.