Rome, 5 December- A one-day Country Strategy Review workshop organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized United Nations agency, kicks off today in Tbilisi. The event brings together international development partners, government officials, civil society and rural development specialists.
Discussions will focus on how to promote shared prosperity in the rural areas with the aim of improving the productivity of Georgia's agriculture sector and identify the steps required to provide the necessary means to further develop and strengthen critical agricultural value chains.
"The government's socio-economic development strategy, better known as Georgia 2020 and the Strategy for Agricultural Development of Georgia (2015-2020), both aim to modernize the Country's agriculture sector, and increase agricultural competitiveness by developing and investing in the necessary infrastructure," said Otar Danelia, Minister of Agriculture.

Over the last decades, the Government of Georgia and IFAD have been working together to boost the productivity of smallholder producers by investing in the rural sector.

"Getting agricultural goods to market more efficiently, while cutting losses and waste are crucial for ensuring sustainability and bringing about social, environmental and economic benefits to smallholder farmers and their communities," said Dina Saleh, IFAD Country ProgramManager for Georgia.

"The newly approved IFAD-funded Agricultural Modernization, Market Access and Resilience project, which is in-line with government's agricultural and rural development strategy, will put in place the necessary productive rural infrastructure to support the inclusive growth of climate-smart agricultural value chains using a 'farm-to-fork' model," added Saleh. "This strategy gathering will identify opportunities for the private sector to build better links with smallholder producers, to address their challenges and to identify trade and other types of barriers so that we can transform farming into profitable business."

IFAD's partnership with Georgia dates back to 1997. To date, 92,850 households have benefitted from five IFAD-funded projects and programmes for a total investment of US$ 124 million of which IFAD financing of $ 52 million has leveraged an additional $72 million.

Press release No.: IFAD/79/2014

IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided over US$16 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached more than 430 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN's food and agriculture hub.