Agriculture plays a key role in the economic and social development of Georgia. Though over half of the active population works in this sector, it makes up only 17% of the GDP. The rural population has not benefited from the economic growth of recent years and is as a result...

Priority sectors of the new Country Strategy for Georgia are agriculture and forestry, which will receive about 70% of available funds. The selection of these sectors was mainly guided by the goal of poverty reduction und of socially and ecologically sustainable development. Despite remarkable economic progress in recent years, about...

This book describes how farmers and rural people in the southern Caucasus maintain biodiversity and apply the ecosystem approach in their daily lives and agricultural practices. These practices contribute to their food security and livelihoods while also maintaining local genetic resources.This book does not claim to offer a definitive prescription...

The Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC) region consists of five countries in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) and three in the South Caucasus (Armenia Azerbaijan and Georgia). The eight countries of the region attained independence after the breakdown of the former Soviet Union in 1991, and...

Georgia is one of the poorest countries in the former Soviet bloc. Over half of its 4.7 million people live below the poverty line, second only to Romania among central and eastern European countries. The purpose of this paper is to describe the grassroots reality of the country’s agricultural sector...

The aim of this contribution is to show what official data are available and what statements can be made concerning the importance of subsistence farming in Georgia. Combining the official figures with observations of the Georgian situation provided insight to the significance of subsistence farming for the Georgian society. It...

This issue of Caravan chronicles ICARDA’s efforts in developing a research strategy and a need-based research program for the CAC region. In doing so, ICARDA played a major role in bringing together all partners, most importantly donors. The article on page 8 traces the history of this effort and provides...