FAO.org

A chance encounter with the head of a Georgian herb cooperative during an FAO/EBRD study tour gave Georgian greenhouse producer Keti Tomeishvili the idea to grow culinary herbs alongside her cucumbers. Thanks to high demand in neighbouring Russia for herbs like parsley, dill, coriander and mint, her idea has paid off.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, countries went into lockdown, shuttering markets, closing borders and restricting people’s movement. Difficulties with logistics and transportation disrupted food supply chains and limited trade opportunities. To complicate matters, heavy snowstorms had triggered an avalanche just prior to the crisis, closing parts of Georgia’s border for about a week.

Despite these challenges, Keti managed to produce and export 3 tonnes of coriander in March 2020. Although she earned less than she had hoped, she still made enough to continue paying the four women who worked with her in her greenhouse business. Unable to increase their salaries to compensate for rising food prices and a devalued currency, Keti decided to let them use one of her five greenhouses to grow and sell cucumbers, cushioning their incomes a little. Keti has invested in improving her business over the years – from drip irrigation to good quality seeds and better pest management.

The advantages to growing fruits and vegetables in greenhouses are many. Protection from extreme weather, the need for fewer chemical inputs and good quality produce with a longer shelf-life and market appeal are just a few. Her decision to diversify into herbs came at the right time. It opened up new markets and boosted her earnings, helping her to cope better with the pandemic’s economic shocks.

And her act of solidarity with her employees was among countless acts, big and small, inspired by the COVID-19 crisis, like the Georgian Dairy Association’s regular donations of milk and dairy products to the infectious disease hospital in Tbilisi. “We have to help each other,” Keti says. “I believe kindness is contagious.”