Alliances Lesser Caucasus Program (ALCP) – Georgia
Market stall owner: Ia Tsagareishvili (SDC Georgia)
Ia describes the Alliances Lesser Caucasus Program (ALCP) supporting the livestock market development in Georgia. The project is working mainly in dairy and meat value chains. The majority of poor rural households own from 1 to 10 cows and heavily rely on incomes from them.
The project engages with the private sector actors who provide services or market access to small farmers. Facilitating better integration of small farmers into the livestock value chain helps them to improve livestock productivity as well as market access and thus increase incomes. The project works with the private sector to enhance the outreach and sustainability of the interventions. The project avoids becoming a market player itself. It facilitates the development of mutually beneficial and sustainable links among various actors of the value chains.
The key tools used by the project for the engagement with the private sector are:
- Analyzing markets,
- Identifying opportunities for growth,
- Assisting in developing business plans,
- Providing technical assistance (TA),
- Co-funding acquisition of key equipment.
Major lessons learned are the following:
- SMEs are good partners when they see the potential for expanding their business;
- They have a comprehensive understanding of the details and can turn them into opportunities with a bit of technical assistance (TA);
- Co-financing is a good motivator for smaller companies, while the larger ones need more TA to identify profitable opportunities which they can finance on their own;
- Grant seekers shall be avoided, as they go after subsidies and not after business models.
