Georgia has substantially increased funding for its Ministry of Agriculture since 2011 and improved its policy environment through 2012 parliamentary elections. In 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture established a public extension system with 245 specialists dispersed to 54 field offices. While progress has been made, extension specialists in the field offices have many responsibilities beyond farmer education. There are also concerns about specialists serving both educational and regulatory roles winning farmers' trust. Georgia currently has laws preventing the extension network from charging fees for services.

1. MEAS Symposium 2015
June 4 Panel
“Public Sector Service
Provision, Policy Making,
& Enabling Environment”
Georgia—Not Following the Crowd
Shamenna Gall
USAID-Georgia
Roland Smith
University of Illinois-SEAS Project

2. 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

3. Extension Program Development & Delivery
in Georgia
Farmers and other
Stakeholders
District Educators
(MOA-ICC Staff)
Extension
Subject
Matter
Specialists
Extension Educational Materials & Programs
Needs Assessment
Scientific
Research Center

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

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

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

7. Extension Program Development & Delivery
in Georgia
Farmers and other
Stakeholders
District Educators
(MOA-ICC Staff)
Extension
Subject
Matter
Specialists
Extension Educational Materials & Programs
Needs Assessment
Scientific
Research Center

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

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

10. 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.

11. 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.