On February 18, at 13 00, the President's Representative in Kakheti Region Giorgi Ghviniashvili and the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Georgia Fund (MCG) George Abdushelishvili will be visiting a beekeeping farm in a village of Alaverdi, which was financed through MCG's Agribusiness Development Activity (ADA).
The beekeeping farm (Individual Entrepreneur "Giorgi Makharadze") was awarded MCG-ADA grant in amount of $49,995 in November of 2009. The grant funding was used to purchase a modern technological line for honey production. Meanwhile, a matching investment of $63,140 was used to purchase 150 bee families and to repair and renovate the existing premises.
In 2011, the enterprise plans to increase the number of bee families up to 200 and produce three tons of honey, which will be on sale under the trademark of "Taplikatsi" both within the region and in trade chains in Tbilisi. At this stage, the enterprise employs five people but intends to increase this number as production grows.
Since 2007, total 280 grant projects have been financed with the budget of $15.8 million and generating the same amount of matching investments that eventually doubled total investment made through MCC Georgia Compact into the country's agribusiness sector up to $32 million. The Projects are implemented in every region of Georgia in sectors such as cattle-breeding, poultry farming, beekeeping, fruits and vegetables processing, dairy processing and many more, and aim at the development of primary production, small and medium enterprises and farm services centers throughout Georgia. As a result of ADA Project implementation, up to 3,000 new jobs have been created in rural areas, while indirectly benefiting more than 109,332 people.
