MEAS Symposium 2015

June 4 Panel

“Public Sector Service Provision, Policy

Making, & Enabling Environment”

Georgia—Not Following the Crowd

Shamenna Gall USAID-Georgia

Roland SmithUniversity of Illinois-SEAS Project

Public Sector Service Provision, Policy Making, and Enabling Environment in Georgia

• Contrary to many other countries, Georgia has substantially increased its funding for the Ministry of Agriculture since 2011.

• Parliamentary elections in 2012 improved enabling environment for supportive policies

• In early 2013, the MOA made a bold move to establish a public funded Extension system country-wide with approval of Parliament

• About 245 specialists were hired and dispersed to the 54 field offices in districts called Information & Consulting Centers

• Bad news/Good news• But, specialists in district offices have many other responsibilities

in addition to farmer education and assistance

Extension Program Development & Deliveryin Georgia

Farmers and otherStakeholders

District Educators (MOA-ICC Staff)

ExtensionSubject Matter Specialists

Extension Educational Materials & Programs

Needs Assessment

Scientific Research Center

Public Sector Service Provision, Policy Making, and Enabling Environment in Georgia

Public Sector Service Provision, Policy Making, and Enabling Environment in Georgia

Public Sector Service Provision, Policy Making, and Enabling Environment in Georgia

Extension Program Development & Deliveryin Georgia

Farmers and otherStakeholders

District Educators (MOA-ICC Staff)

ExtensionSubject Matter Specialists

Extension Educational Materials & Programs

Needs Assessment

Scientific Research Center

Public Sector Service Provision, Policy Making, and Enabling Environment in Georgia

Public Sector Service Provision, Policy Making, and Enabling Environment in Georgia

Public Sector Service Provision, Policy Making, and Enabling Environment in Georgia

• Remember, the Extension network in Georgia is only two years old• Good progress made; more to be done—both at the Ministry level

as well as the field level• Concern for Extension field staff winning the trust of farmers

when they must serve both education and regulatory roles.• Georgia has laws preventing the Extension network from charging

for services that might be provided. ‘Fee based’ programs not an option for funding support at this time unless policy is changed.

• Over 600,000 small farmers in Georgia, so both public and private sector Extension education is needed.

Disclaimer

This presentation was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development, USAID. The

contents are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.