2014 - 2017: ABCO, in partnership with Mercy Corps (leading partner), carried out the project on “Strengthening Farmers Cooperatives In Rural Municipalities of Georgia” in scope of the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development in Georgia (ENPARD Georgia) (Small Farmers Co-operation component Grant). Project’s target area covered 21 municipalities in 5 regions of Georgia –– Imereti region (including Sachkhere, Chiatura, Vani and Samtredia municipalities), Shida Kartli region (including Gori, Kareli, Khashuri and Kaspi municipalities), Kvemo Kartli region (including Gardabani, Marneuli and Tetritskaro municipalities), Kakheti region (including Sagarejo, Gurjaani, Kvareli, Signagi and Dedoplistskaro municipalities) and Samtskhe – Javakheti region (including Akhalkalaki, Ninotsminda, Adigeni, Aspindza, Akhaltsikhe municipalities).  The Project, through the relevantly focused supporting activities, aimed at contributing to poverty reduction among local farmer population within the above target regions and municipalities, through facilitating to creation and development of sustainable and business-oriented/agricultural cooperatives to enable increased food production, and improved efficiency of supporting functions (supplies, services, marketing, etc.) by strengthening linkages with agriculture service providers and enhancing the market environment to help local small farmers increase their production, generate additional income and thus progress from subsistence to market oriented agriculture activities. ABCO’s role in the project  for facilitating to strengthening capacities of local farmers/farmer groups and local agriculture service providers with purpose to enable farmer population to have the improved sustainable and long-term access to the necessary farmer inputs and services within their local areas; The specific scope of services delivered by ABCO under the project covered the following:  -Development and delivery of Business Training Programs to project beneficiary farmers/farmer cooperatives (36 sets of 4 day-long trainings in Business Planning and Management as well as  25 sets of trainings in Financial and Tax Accounting were implemented; -Development and delivery of Training Programs in Business Planning & Management to local Agro Service Provider companies in the target regions/municipalities  total  14 training such training programs were delivered to total number of 105 Agro Service Provider companies in scope of the project; -Delivery of Consulting services to project beneficiary cooperatives; -Assistance of project beneficiary farmer cooperatives in preparation and submission of applications for the project’s grant financing schemes; -Conducting of the evaluation of sub-grant business project applications submitted by the project’s potential beneficiary cooperatives for the Matching-Grant scheme available under the project and participating in the decision making process of the project’s Grant Committee; -Provision of assistance to project’s beneficiary farmer cooperatives enterprises and agriculture service provider companies in identification, selection and procurement of production equipment purchased through the grant funding and delivery; -Provision of post-grant consultancy assistance to beneficiary cooperatives and monitoring of the equipment purchased through the allocated grants; Additionally to the above activities, in scope of the project, ABCO conducted 2 comprehensive surveys on Market Analyses and existing Value-Chains for the following types of agricultural production: 1) Potato production sub-sector (covering Kvemo Kartli, Shida Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti regions) and 2) Honey production sub-sector (covering the regions of KvemoKartli, Shida Kartli, Kakheti and Imereti). On the whole, as result of the project implementation and through ABCO’s active participation, about 230 agricultural cooperatives created in different target municipalities and regions (total 452 project beneficiary farmers) as well as 105 local Agro Service Provider were equipped with necessary capacities through the delivered training programs; Through the project’s financial support, up to 70 created agricultural cooperatives received matching grant financing for developing their agribusiness projects. (more...);