Development of a Less Favoured Area Policy in Georgia

Transcription

1 Development of a Less Favoured Area Policy in Georgia Philipp Gmeiner, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management Gerhard Hovorka, Federal Institute for Less Favoured and Mountainous Areas Klaus Wagner, Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics 16. September 2015, Prague 1

2 Content Project objectives and methods Key figures of Georgia EU - objectives for Less Favoured Areas Neoliberal concept of development and growth Recommendations Conclusions 2

3 Project objectives and methods I Customer: FAO Georgia Tender: Recommendations for Defining Less Favourable Areas in Georgia (part of the project: Capacity Development of the Ministry of Agriculture in Georgia) Project aims: Outline of existing LFA policies and practices in the EU and CEEC Delimitation options and proposition of indicators defining Georgian LFAs Data availability and gaps, administrative capacity and responsibilities Potential impacts of LFA support in Georgia Recommendations on policy options to support LFA in Georgia 3

4 Project objectives and methods II Activity 1 Existing EU-policies and practices 2 Review of policies and practices available in CEEC Home Office 3 Kick off workshop (information and data requirement) 4 Basics for delimitation of LFAs (Georgian legislation) 5 Proposition of LFA indicators Mission 1 6 Feasibility assessment 7 Capacity review to design and implement LFA policies 8 Recommendations on specific gaps 9 Policy measures impact assessment Mission 2 10 Final workshop 11 Recommendations on policy options to support LFA policy formulation 12 Acceptance, process of synthesis report and project finalisation Home Office 4

5 Georgia key figures general Size: 70,000km² (57,000km²) Pop.: 4.4 Mio (1.3 Mio Tbilisi) Altitude: 0-5,000m Russia Climate: sub-tropic-continental (Precipitation: E 400 mm, W 3,000 mm) Black Sea GDP/Cap. PPP: 6,000$ (A: 43,000$) Georgia Tbilisi Economic collapse after 1990, Russian embargo Turkey Armenia Aserbaijan 15% extreme poverty, 32% below poverty threshold Agricultural quota: >50% Relief Map of Georgia von File:Georgia location map.svg: NordNordWestderivative work Виктор_В - File:Georgia location map.svg by NordNordWestETOPO1SRTM3. Lizenziert unter CC BY-SA 3.0 über Wikimedia Commons - _Georgia.png 5

6 Georgia key figures agriculture Land use: Agricultural area: ~800,000 ha Arable land: ~300,000 ha Grassland: ~270,000 ha Nr. of holdings: ~700,000 (mostly subsistence <1.5ha) Problems: low productivity, management, infrastructure, legal uncertainties, no money for investments Plant Production: Corn, Potatoes, Vegetables, Wheat, Grapes, Fruits, Citrus fruits Animal production: Cattle (1.3 Mio), Sheep (870,000), Pigs (210,000) 6

7 Example of a result map (possible mountain villages of Georgia) 7

8 Example of a result map (areas affected by wind erosion) 8

9 EU - objectives for Less Favoured Areas Maintaining the countryside Maintaining and promoting sustainable farming systems Restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems related to agriculture and forestry, with a focus on areas facing natural or other specific constraints Specific Georgian objectives (in addition) : Prevention of land abandonment Improvement of the demographic situation Improvement of infrastructure Improvement of the general socioeconomic situation 9

10 The neoliberal concept of development and growth Opening of markets, government de-regulation and privatisation of stateowned enterprises, goods, services World-market integration of developing countries Adoption and implementation of support for organisations, structures and activities in the agricultural sector of developing countries Growing scholarly differences over social, political, economic and cultural impact 10

11 Recommendations for LFA support in Georgia I Improvement of coordination and communication of Ministry of Agriculture with other stakeholders Coordination of existing strategies Coordination with forestry policy (Ministry of Environment) An introduction of LFA direct payments in Georgia similar to the EU model is unrealistic in the near future Defining a hierarchy of the main objectives and of measures to implement them Starting LFA payments in pilot regions 11

12 Recommendations for LFA support in Georgia II Setting up of necessary administrative capacities and filling of data gaps Building a data management system for available data (based on EU INSPIRE) Delineation of 2 categories of LFAs: mountain areas and other LFAs Delineation of LFAs mainly at the municipal level Predominantly natural criteria (altitude, slope) and biophysical criteria (soil quality, climate, etc.) should be used for delineation; supplement required with socio-economic criteria 12

13 Conclusions The doctrine of the global competitiveness of agriculture can not be the primary goal for a country like Georgia It s not directly possible to implement an applied and well-functioning model like the EU-LFA payments in countries with other conditions To create and fulfil the technical requirements for LFA payments is a longterm process; implement LFA policies initially in pilot regions In the consulting process expectations of clients, contractors (scientists) and beneficiaries (ministry) do not always coincide completely Personal experience: Teamwork and competent contact persons on site are essential 13