GRAIL Project

The GRAIL project, approved by World Bank, is designed to help Georgian Agriculture Sector adapt to climate change and bolster the nation's food security.

Agriculture is an important economic sector in Georgia that contributes to poverty reduction, employment, rural livelihoods, and foreign exchange earnings, but the sector is underperforming. Notwithstanding domestic and export market recent achievements, land and labor productivity are low, and the performance of the agricultural sector remains

below potential.

The Georgian Government has prioritized irrigation modernization as a key strategy to bolster the nation’s food security, in response to the country's underperforming agricultural sector and the severe impacts of climate change on food production.

In line with this strategy, the Georgian government has significantly expanded the country’s irrigable land since 2015. By 2023, the total irrigable area reached 163,000 hectares, nearly doubled over 8 years. The GRAIL project, approved by the World Bank Board, was established in 2023 to continue this effort, aiming for the modernization of a further 26,800 hectares.

The project comprises an integrated program of infrastructure, institutional and agricultural marketing development, all designed to boost irrigation service performance and ensure the sector's operational and financial sustainability.

To ensure the program’s success, both The 2015 National Agricultural Strategy and the later Irrigation Strategy 2017-2025 pointed out the importance of Georgia Amelioration (GA) – the state-owned company that is responsible for irrigation and drainage schemes nationally – to be transformed into a self-sustaining organization, meaning that it should be able to deliver acceptable services and recover its costs from farmers.

Learn more about GRAIL Project here.