The French Development Agency and Georgia signed a framework agreement on the “Program for the Development of Irrigation Agriculture Promotion in Georgia”, which allocates 70 million euros of financial resources.
The document was signed by the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Lasha Khutsishvili, the French Ambassador to Georgia, and Sheraz Gasri, the head of the French Agency for Development (AFD) South Caucasus Regional Office, Fani Delphi.
The signing ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Finance of Georgia Ekaterine Guntsadze and First Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculture Nino Tandilashvili.
35 million euros have been allocated from 70 million euros for infrastructure components, and it is considered:
• Modernization of the Upper Samgori irrigation channel;
• Effective production increase in terms of quality agricultural products;
• Access to food for the local population and increase in competitiveness of Georgian products in regional markets;
• Implement a sustainable irrigation system to respond to challenges related to climate change.
35 million euros are allocated for a budget-supporting program, which includes:
• Supporting state policy for sustainable and inclusive management of irrigation resources;
• Strengthening policy and institutional frameworks to ensure the integration of climate-wise practices in agriculture and water management;
LLC Georgian melioration management and risk management improvement.
The program is implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia, LLC, together with Melioracia of Georgia.
A Framework Agreement has been signed between Agence Française de Dévelopment (AFD) and Georgia to support the Development of Irrigated Agriculture in Georgia by allocating 70 million Euros to implement the Policy and Infrastructure Components.
The Agreement was signed by H.E. Lasha Khutsishvili, Minister of Finance of Georgia; H.E. Sheraz Gasri, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of France to Georgia; and Fanny Delpey, Head of AFD Tbilisi Office for the South Caucasus.
The signing Ceremony was attended by Ekaterine Guntsadze, Deputy Minister of Finance of Georgia and Nino Tandilashvili, First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.
The overall objectives of the Infrastructure component (35 mln EUR) are:
• Modernization of the Zemo Samgori irrigation system;
• To increase the resource-efficient production of quality agricultural produce;
• Increasing availability and access to food by local populations and increasing the competitiveness of Georgian produce on regional markets;
• To enable irrigation systems to be more resilient towards Climate Change challenges.
Budget Support Program 35 mln EUR) envisages the following:
• Enhancing governance and management controls to increase accountability, transparency and efficiency; and sustainability of irrigation system in the face of climate change;
• Enhancing legal and institutional framework to achieve irrigation policy outcomes and ensure sustainable management of water resources that includes climate change impacts.
• Improvement of corporate governance and risk management at Georgian Melioration LLC.
The program was implemented by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia (MEPA) and the Georgian Melioration LLC.
