UN agricultural development agency funds small and medium-sized farmers in Georgia
The $34.7 million project will be financed by a $9.2 million loan and an $800,000 grant from IFAD to Georgia, bringing the total of IFAD funds in the Eastern European country to $25 million.
Rural poverty has been on the rise in Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and its command economy because most rural farmers lack access to the resources they need to undertake commercial agriculture, such as capital, land, markets and appropriate technologies
In the four-year Rural Development Project, the loan would link rural communities with marketing chains, expand credit availability and improve land tenure, while the grant would expand rural financial services, IFAD said in a statement today from its Rome headquarters.
"Project activities will be concentrated in areas that produce commodities with high potential for agribusiness, such as cow's milk, apples, potatoes, hazelnuts and wine grapes," it said.