New Year Food Fair to Support Georgian Farmers

To support smallholder farmers’ access to local markets, a globally renowned aid and development charity organization, Oxfam, is to organize a pre-New Year food fair in Tbilisi.

The fair will take place at numerous locations around the city, such as Bukia Gardens on Pekini Avenue, near the Technical University subway station, on the 26th and 27th of December, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The food fair is a perfect opportunity for people to find diverse, high quality, healthy products produced by smallholder Georgian farmers.

During the event, Oxfam and the Biological Farming Association Elkana will present the findings of their study on Food Security and Nutrition.

According to the organization, the recent data revealed 70% of the Georgian population suffers from food insecurity and fears the situation will worsen in the future.

“Sadly, 50% of the income of the Georgian population is spent on buying food. Moreover, a considerable number of the population have no access to locally produced, diversified, healthy products. As a result, there are certain alarming trends developing, especially among the low-income population,” the Oxfam press release said.

As result of the findings of this study, smallholder farmers and ordinary citizens are calling on the government to adopt a food security policy which will support smallholder farmers’ access to the local market, in order to empower them to provide high quality products in higher quantities to the local population.

The pre-New Year food fair is one of the activities supported by the European Commission funded project, Improving Regional Food Security through National Strategies and Smallholder Production in the South Caucasus, which was launched in 2013.

Central to the project is assisting the Georgian government to develop and implement a strategy on food security, which will guarantee the right of every citizen to have access to healthy and high quality food.

“By participating in the pre-New Year food fair, people can demonstrate their support for the development of smallholder farmers and the increase in local agricultural production. All attendees will be provided with solidarity pins,” organizers said.

Tamar Svanidze