Description
The Caucasus Agricultural Development Initiative (CADI) promotes broad-based economic growth in former soviet republics through enhanced agricultural extension, increased market intelligence, improved trade readiness through sanitary and phytosanitary capacity strengthening, and two-way exchanges of experts. Agriculture employs nearly 40% of the workforce in the country of Georgia, yet productivity and profitability remain low. This results in food insecurity, rural poverty, youth seeking employment elsewhere, and limited capacity to engage in international markets. To address these issues, under CADI, USDA/FAS is working with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University (BSU), and producers to anchor research, education, and extension at BSU. BSU will serve as a hub through which stakeholders will coordinate research, education and extension-capacity strengthening within the Adjara Region. Complimenting this effort, USDA/FAS is also supporting, through extent collaborations, the Ministry and BSU to establish a youth-in-agriculture program analogous to 4-H in the United States; and, building institutional capacity of BSU by conducting research, education and extension benefiting trout farmers within region. This activity will complement these efforts using the latest research to analyze proposed strategies for the government of Georgia, Georgian universities and other stakeholders how to sustainably strengthen agricultural extension to achieve these outcomes and advance climate smart agricultural practices. Areas USDA/FAS anticipates working within include youth-in-agriculture programming, trout aquaculture, and institutional capacity strengthening. Approaches may include short- and longterm exchanges between subject matter experts in the United States and Georgia, helping institutions conducting training and retraining courses, having courses officially approved by the Government of Georgia, providing capacity strengthening to Georgian universities, ministries, and private sector, working closely with USDA/FAS and U.S. Land Grant Universities (LGUs). USDA/FAS expects to increase agricultural productivity in the Trout aquaculture by developing and disseminating farm management best practices and expanding private sector and extension models through catalytic capital and business development support, and expand trade of agricultural products in the trout value chain by improving food safety and quality, product innovation and marketing across both the public and private sectors. USDA/FAS intends to build the capacity of Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, local farmers, and Ministry of Agriculture to provide independent, objective food safety technical assistance to trout business operations across the supply chain.