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FINANCE & EXTENSION & COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT FOR GEORGIAN FARMERS
FinExCoop GEORGIA
Newsletter - May 2022 - Issue 4
THE POTATO VALUE-CHAIN IN GEORGIA
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Potato is the fourth crop in Georgia by acreage, after maize, wheat, and barley. Nearly half of the acreage is located in the mountainous areas of Samtskhe-Javakheti. In Kvemo Kartli, potatoes are produced both in mountainous areas and in lowlands for early varieties. As it is usually the case with Georgian agriculture, nearly all output is provided by family holdings.
In 2020, only 17.1% of total Georgian holdings were selling more than 50% of their agricultural output to third parties. But in the case of potatoes, the share of sold output tends to be higher than on average in agriculture. To a large extent, potatoes can be considered as “the” cash crop of mountainous areas with 65.9% of output of potato sold in the market. On the demand side, compared to most countries of the region, the consumption of potatoes and potato products per capita in Georgia remains modest. Read more...
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ABOUT US
The 4-year FinExCoop project is funded by the European Union (EU) under the NIF Programme Trust Fund. Even though it is not stricto sensu an ENPARD project, it is fully coordinated with the ENPARD programme in Georgia. FinExCoop is managed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and it is implemented by a consortium led by the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, in partnership with Chambre d’Agriculture du Loiret, Mercy Corps and Rural Development for Future Georgia (RDFG). Through its subsidiary Proparco, AFD also provides credit lines for agriculture to two local financial institutions, Credo Bank and Microfinance Institution Crystal. The main objective of FinExCoop Georgia is to promote the sustainable emergence of a new generation of small and medium-scale family farm entrepreneurs able to be competitive thanks to: Improved access to credit and other financial services including insurance (Fin like Finance); Higher productivity linked to better technical knowledge and appropriate use of better inputs and equipment (Ex like Extension); Their participation in market-oriented cooperatives or any other entities fostering their coordination in order to improve their access to inputs and equipment, to consolidate their output, and increase its value through better storage, processing and marketing (Coop like Cooperatives).
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FINEXCOOP’S STRATEGIC SUPPORT TO FARMERS
Potato is a sector for which Georgia has large comparative agronomic advantages. The main critical factor for high volume and high-quality production is the availability of good seeds.
Read more...
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Test: FinExCoop’s experimental and demonstration plots
Demo plots were established with these 8 pilot farms to test various varieties of potatoes and other crops included in the agronomic rotations. Climatic and agronomic conditions of all the pilots were assessed.
Read more...
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Train: FinExCoop’s capacity building activities
Most training activities of FinExCoop have been provided in-the-field by its international and local agronomists, who coached pilot farmers in their plots. Unfortunately, the pandemics made it impossible to rely on large number of demo days. On-line training was provided by French expert Philippe Clouet in March 2021.
Read more...
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Transfer: Leveraging on FinExCoop’s activities
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In order to ensure sustainability and replicability of its actions, FinExCoop believes that it is of utmost importance to systematically promote innovative horizontal linkages among its potato pilot farmers, who are genuine grassroot leaders, and between them and their environment within the value-chain. To help create this willingness of its pilot farmers to work together,
Read more...
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For more information, please contact us via email
info@finexcoop.ge or reach us at +995 599 30 57 58. Please also visit our
website and our Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you! |
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This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of FinExCoop and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. |
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