Increasing Access to Agriculture Machinery To Improve Productivity of Administrative Boundary Line Farmers
Low productivity is a persistent problem in Imereti, a landlocked administrative region in western Georgia, bordered by the Russian-occupied territory of Samachablo (South Ossetia) and, therefore, considered an Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) territory. Very few farmers in the Imereti region have access to machinery and equipment in the ABL, especially due to the privatization of assets by the state-owned Mekanizatori Ltd. To address this market failure, in 2023, the USAID-funded Resilient Communities Program invested in five private sector companies to de-risk investments and open Farm Service Centers (FSCs) along the ABL.
One notable success story regards Alva Ltd., an FSC located in the Sachkhere municipality of the Imereti region that caters to four ABL communities. With the Program’s support, Alva Ltd. acquired modern, high-capacity agricultural machinery and integrated much-needed mechanization technologies into their services. Soon after receiving support from the Program, Alva Ltd. began providing machinery services to 50 ABL farmers for cultivation, tilling, pressing, and harvesting. These farmers are expected to improve their productivity and increase the amount of land they can cultivate. Alva Ltd. also plans to start offering services to 500 additional farmers along the ABL in Sachkhere municipality, resulting in a significant transformation of this region’s agricultural landscape.
