| Summary: | Agriculture plays a vital role in the economy of Georgia despite the relatively small size of the sector. Agriculture is the country's largest employer and makes a significant contribution to exports even though agriculture contributes a modest share to total GDP. Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, actual irrigated area in Georgia declined significantly. Georgia is currently facing important challenges related to the development of its agricultural sector, which requires the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage systems and the establishment of institutional organizations that makes it sustainable. This policy note on the irrigation sector supports the World Bank-led analytical study on Agricultural, Land, and Water Policies to Scale-Up Sustainable Agri-Food Systems in Georgia. It was carried out during the months of April to July 2021, in close collaboration with the main stakeholders of the irrigation sector in Georgia and the services of the World Bank. The analysis in this policy note identifies the core constraints, which are hindering irrigation sector performance in Georgia and leading to the slow implementation of the irrigation strategy with a brief overview of some of the factors that are contributing to these constraints
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