In general, agriculture is a male-dominated sector. Men are the majority, who own resources (land, machinery, equipment), while women are mostly involved in low-paid jobs or work in household gardens. Therefore, the Project focused on engaging women more actively and giving them opportunities to increase their knowledge and participate in the grant component.
The Project has created a very positive dynamic, as the overall percentage of female participants in the trainings / consultations were 40%. And six (6) women (total number of beneficiaries 18) received financial support within the project.
Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples
The OART Project had already had well-established relations with the local community and the Project capitalized on this experience and expertise of the OART Community Mobilizer.
Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods
The Project has indirect effect on improving socio-economic conditions of Tianeti local community. This will be achieved through production of agricultural products by applying environment-friendly practices. As the demand on such products is growing and their prices are higher comparing to the conventional products, it is expected that income of farmers will increase and therefore will contribute to improving the livelihoods of farmers.
Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
The Project worked closely with the local community to increase public awareness on land degradation and environmental issues. At the same time, increasing awareness of Information and Consultation Center in Tianeti Municipality under the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture by the OART Project was very important for the sustainability of the Project and ensuring that information on the abovementioned issues will be transferred to the community after the completion of the Project.
Inovative Financial Mechanisms
The impact of the Project will be visible after its completion in long-term, as application of biohumus, modern irrigation systems and organic preparations will lead to the positive results after some time. However, the Project accumulated knowledge on best practices under the grant component and how these contribute to minimizing negative impact on land degradation and environment in general. This knowledge will be disseminated through the electronic brochures and during final event.
Capacity - Building Component
The knowledge of Tianeti local community on land degradation and impact of agriculture on the environment is very limited. Generally, the understanding of farmers is that Tianeti is a Green Municipality as declared by the Mayor several years ago and the footprint on the environment is minimal.
For the capacity building of the community members the Project organized training courses on organic horticulture with the focus on environmentally friendly practices, including biohumus production, application of modern irrigation systems (drip irrigation, use of rainwater) and organic preparations in agriculture.
Notable Community Participation
Young people (under 30) were involved in the project activities, including trainings and grant competition. It should be noted, that opportunities of youth in the agriculture industry is limited due to the lack of resources and capacity. Six (6) people under 30 received financial support within the project.
Project Results
Eight (8) trainings were held in fruit growing and preparing business proposals. As a result, 116 farmers living in Tianeti Municipality were trained, who have better knowledge and skills in such topics as intensive fruit orchards and arrangement of windbreaks with bio methods; plant nutrition and medicine by bio methods; fruit harvesting, drying and storage.
Eighteen (18) local farmers organized demonstration projects in organic agriculture and 5 greenhouses with irrigation systems, 6 vermicompost farms and 4 new orchards (fruit and berry) with irrigation systems are arranged.
Six (6) vermicompost farms are financed which will produce bio humus. Each vermicompost farm is expected to produce up to 3-4 tonnes of biofertilizer a year. Biologically active substances in bio humus reduce plant stress, accelerate seed germination, increase plant resistance to diseases.
By using bio humus, the yield will increase by 30-40%, which will automatically increase the income of farmers. In the conditions of minimum load, the income of each farmer will increase annually by 1,300-1,500 GEL and in the case of maximum load, by 4,000-5,000 GEL.
The beneficiary farmer was given a chainsaw for demonstration, which does not damage firewood and causes less damage to the environment.
As a result of the project implementation, it is expected to regenerate approximately 1 hectare of land.
In all fruit orchard (4) projects, a windbreak is considered and water tanks are procured in order to collect rainwater, which saves water resources, reduces wind and water erosion; Windbreaks increase yield by 30%.
All greenhouses (5) have an irrigation system. Its advantages: the yield increases; soil erosion processes are reduced or almost eliminated.
The labor cost for irrigation of an unit area is considerably reduced; Water and fertilizer costs are reduced by 2-3 times; The efficiency of the use of nutrients by plants increases (up to 80%), soil salinization does not occur; It is possible to irrigate at any time of the day, which avoids sunburn of plants. Farmers will use locally produced bio humus in the future.
