On September 22-26, 2014 researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) in Germany visited ISET in the framework of their research tour to Georgia. Several panel discussions and workshops were conducted with the goal to discuss current challenges of agriculture and rural development in transition countries.
Both academic and policy discussions brought together several stakeholders of Georgian agriculture, such as Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA), EU Delegation to Georgia, GIZ, USAID, Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC) at ISET-PI, etc. Among others, topics such as policies for sustainable agriculture, development of modern agricultural value chains, agricultural trade policies of transition countries, the role of education and extension in agricultural development, and structural transformation pathways of farms in transition countries were discussed by the participants.
On September 4, 2014 ISET Conference Hall hosted Dr Sophie Ghvanidze, Hochschule Heilbronn, with her presentation. Does Country-of-Origin Matter? The Case of Georgian Wine for German Wine Consumers".The purpose of this study is to identify dimensions of country images of Georgia in terms of benefits sought by German wine consumers of Georgian wine. Four consumers perceived values quality, price, social and emotional value identify the perception of consumers for Georgian wine.