Georgia
Georgia Agricultural Risk Reduction Program
Overview:
The USAID-funded Georgia Agricultural Risk Reduction Program (GARRP) impacted the needs of roughly 40,000 farm families in their recovery from the economic impact of the conflict. The project addressed crucial food security and income generation issues in the affected communities of the Kaspi, Kareli and Gori districts.
Through GARRP, CNFA provided livelihood assistance to local farmers, as well as resettled internally displaced persons (IDPs) who had been issued agricultural land, to ensure successful spring crop planting and orchard assistance. In addition, we operated a three-track voucher system for corn, orchards and winter wheat.
Program Approach:
- Higher Yields: Vouchers for seed, fertilizer and machinery was distributed to more than 10,000 farm families (including 2,300 IDP families). CNFA also mobilized local machinery service providers and organized the provision of plowing, cultivation, planting and fertilizer application services;
- Electronic Voucher Cards Modernized Orchard Production: More than 17,900 farm families received electronic voucher cards for orchard inputs to be used in eight retail locations;
- Support Allowed Farmers to Harvest Winter Wheat: The third prong of the voucher program targeted families either late receiving land or whose land had been recently decontaminated from unexploded ordinances. This round of distribution included vouchers for seed and machinery services for approximately 700 IDP families and 2,670 farm families.
At the end of fall 2009, the wheat planted at the beginning of the GARRP program was fully harvested, adding up to more than 41,000 metric tons, worth $10.1 million for program beneficiaries. Not only did this represent a vital return to self-sufficiency for the 7,862 wheat beneficiaries, but due to the failure of the wheat harvest in the east of the country, the total yield amounted to 2/3 of the total Georgian wheat harvest for the year, making it important for the food security of the country as a whole.
In the last phase of the program, 32,000 farm families received vouchers to plant 2,750 hectares of winter wheat and 12,650 hectares of wheat fertilizer. Over 95,000 individuals benefited from the final phase, representing the completion of delivery of critical livelihood support to every farm and IDP family affected by the conflict.
Program Impact:
- Paper vouchers and electronic voucher cards distributed to 39,639 beneficiary families, including 2,196 IDP families (representing almost 120,000 individuals);
- Crop production made possible on 36,121 hectares of agricultural land, including delivery of inputs and machinery services for 24,449 hectares of arable land and plant protection products for 11,672 hectares of orchards;
- Development and implementation of an innovative electronic voucher card system for 17,928 orchard beneficiary families, including software design, card production, and retailer training, in cooperation with a local commercial bank. Using the cards, beneficiaries were able to purchase more than $5.8 million of plant protection products;
- Organization of 192 trainings on crop production, plant protection, pest diagnosis, pesticide safety, and post-harvest handling for 11,810 program beneficiaries;
- Printing, distribution and reimbursement of 162,191 voucher coupons and electronic voucher cards, with a total cash value of $10,274,806;
- Mobilization of 193 machinery owners and private input distributors to deliver goods and services to program beneficiaries;
- Injection of $16,380,475 into the local agricultural economy (out of a total program cost of $19.48 million) through program purchase of inputs and services from private sector partners.