EU helps Georgia in rural development

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

The European Union continues to help Georgia in its intention to develop rural areas.

About thirty representatives of the Georgian government took part in a working meeting in Tbilisi last week which discussed the integration of rural development into the country's national policy, Business Georgia reported.

While the meeting participants recognized the problems associated with the development of rural areas in Georgia, they focused on the effective implementation of the National Strategy for Rural Development for 2017-2020, the development of the Action Plan for Rural Development for 2018-2020 and on further steps to be taken at the national, regional and municipal levels.

The main topic of the meeting was the definition of the best suitable model for a comprehensive rural development policy in Georgia and ensuring its compliance with the European Union Rural Development Policy.

The meeting was organized within the framework of the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) and was supported by the United Nations Development Program in cooperation with Georgian Agriculture Ministry.

The EU is supporting rural development in Georgia as part of its ENPARD program since 2013. With a total budget of 102 million euros, the main goal of the ENPARD program is to reduce poverty in rural areas in Georgia.

At present, Strategy of Agricultural Development in Georgia 2015-2020 is the main policy document guiding the sectoral reforms in the country. The main objective of the Strategy is the development of agriculture through strengthening of small households and forming of profitable production chains.

Under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, Georgia is committed to promote agricultural and rural development, in particular through progressive convergence of policies and legislation, including sharing knowledge and best practices of rural development policies to promote economic well-being for rural communities and enhancing the administrative capacities at central and local level to plan, evaluate, implement and enforce policies in accordance with EU regulations and best practices.