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The Second Farmers’ Congress of Georgia – Declaration

Georgian Farmers’ Congress represents the unique platform, which brings farmers closer to decision-making structures and facilitates direct dialogue between them. The Farmers’ Congress was held within the framework of the European Union funded project “Improving National Food Security Strategy and Support of Smallholder Farmers”. The project is implemented by Oxfam Georgia in partnership with the Biological farming Association “Elkana”.

The second Farmers’ Congress of Georgia was held on 2nd June 2016 at “Expo Georgia”, whereby farmer delegates from 9 regions in Georgia attended. The Farmers’ Congress was preceded by the regional meetings, as a result of which 150 delegates were selected in total to participate in the culminating event – the Farmers’ Congress. Some of the issues discussed at the Congress were: the effects of the reformed food safety requirements on smallholder farmers, challenges and perspectives with regards to access to markets for smallholders, what kind of investments, loans and subsidy mechanisms are available for smallholder farmers and cooperatives.

The official appeal text was drafted during the Congress, which was signed by the farmer delegates. Appeal text was sent to various international organizations and governmental bodies (Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia, Agricultural Committee of the Parliament of Georgia). Appeal text aims to present the current challenges of food security to the decision-making bodies and propose the potential solutions. Please, find the appeal text on the following LINK.