Georgia Agricultural Production and Rural Enterprise Support
In the Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions of Georgia, IRD helps farmers and other rural entrepreneurs increase their income. The program is accelerating private sector development in Georgia by supplying small-scale farmers with quality-certified seed potatoes, providing training on potato production practices, and developing a substitute import potato market, and establishing two rural enterprise centers, one in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and one in the Kvemo Kartli region.
IRD has sold 15,000 metric tons of hard red winter wheat donated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is using the proceeds over a 24-month period to:
1. - Improve private sector agriculture by procuring 2,857 metric tons of high-quality seed potatoes and distributing them to 9,500 small farmers’ households in the Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions of Georgia. The seed distribution to small farmers will include training on agricultural practices to ensure improved yields; and
2. - Strengthen two rural enterprise centers, which will provide training, in-kind supplies, and equipment, individual consultation to at least 2,500 farmers and rural entrepreneurs, technical assistance in start-up village-scale businesses, and local products access to markets to enhance the probability of success.
Over the life of the project, IRD activities will reach 15,900 people directly and an additional 60,000 people indirectly.