About the workshop

Agriculture is a significant source of livelihood for the majority of the rural population in the South Caucasus, and it plays a significant role in ensuring food security. The Agri-food sector employs up to 18 % of the population and contributes approximately 7%-8% to the region's gross domestic product (GDP). Over the past two decades, the South Caucasian countries have joined various trade agreements and become members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), expanding their trade opportunities and promoting trade liberalisation and integration into the global trading system.

However, despite these advancements, the agri-food sector in the South Caucasus region still faces significant challenges. These challenges include land fragmentation, limited access to finance, outdated farming practices, inadequate infrastructure, limited market access, climate change, and weak policy and institutional frameworks, hindering the development and competitiveness of the agri-food systems in the region. These issues have been further aggravated by the global food crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent geopolitical tensions within and outside the region.

To tackle these challenges, the international workshop “Improving the Functioning of Agri-Food Value Chains in the South Caucasus Region” aims to foster dialogue among academics, policymakers, practitioners, and civil society stakeholders and explore strategies for overcoming obstacles and enhancing the development of the agri-food sector in the region.

The workshop will be held in Tbilisi, Georgia, during 3 – 5 October 2024.

Themes

Topics related to agriculture and the food industry may include:

• Agricultural trade and market access
• Agricultural markets and price analysis
• Value added along the agri-food supply chains
• Impact of crises, Covid-19, and geopolitics on agri-food systems
• Effectiveness of agri-food policies
• Access to finance in the agri-food sector
• Agricultural labour market, migration, and gender issues
• Green agriculture, digitalisation, and innovations

Abstract submission

We cordially invite submissions of extended abstracts with a maximum length of 1,000 words. A comprehensive abstract should include a title, study background, research questions, data and methods, findings, conclusions, and a bibliography (the latter is exempt from the word count limit). All extended abstracts will undergo a rigorous peer review process.

We strongly encourage researchers from the South Caucasus region, Moldova, and the EU, as well as individuals from these countries affiliated with academic institutions in other countries, to submit their valuable work.

Please submit your extended abstract using the Abstract Submission Form.

The deadline for abstract submission is 23 June 2024.

Notification of acceptance will be sent by 28 July 2024.

Organisation/Contact

The three-day workshop is jointly organised by the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) and the ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI) in academic collaboration with the Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU) and the Center for Economic and Regional Studies (KRTK).

For more information, please contact the conference organisers at:

conference-sc(at)iset.ge

International Workshop

Improving the Functioning of Agri-Food Value Chains in the South Caucasus Region

03 – 05 October 2024 | Tbilisi, Georgia

www.iamo.de/en/workshop-southcaucasus

conference-sc(at)iset.ge

Support

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)