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GIEWS Country Brief: Georgia 20-October-2020

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Georgia
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FAO
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FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

  • Aggregate cereal production in 2020 estimated at below-average level

  • Total cereal import requirements in 2020/21 forecast above-average volume

  • Prices of wheat flour increased between June and September 2020

Aggregate cereal production in 2020 estimated at below‑average level

Harvesting of 2020 cereal crops finalized in September and the aggregate output is estimated at about 320 000 tonnes, 12 percent below the average level. Production of maize is estimated at 170 000 tonnes, about 10 percent below the average level mostly due to the gradual reduction of planted areas over the last five years. Similarly, the 2020 wheat output is set at below‑average level of 90 000 tonnes due to low yields following scarce precipitation during the season in the key producing southeastern Kakheti Region (where, on average, produces about 80 percent of the national annual wheat output).

Planting of the 2021 wheat crop, to be harvested from July next year, is expected to start in November.

Total cereal import requirements in 2020/21 forecast above‑average volume

Total cereal import requirements in the 2020/21 marketing year (July/June) are forecast at 813 000 tonnes, about 10 percent above the average level. Wheat import requirements, which account, on average, for about 90 percent of the aggregate cereals import volume, are forecast at 600 000 tonnes, slightly above the five‑year average level following the reduced output obtained in 2020. Similarly, import requirements of maize are forecast at an above‑average of 190 000 tonnes.

Prices of wheat flour increased between June and September 2020

Retail prices of wheat flour, after the steep increases recorded in April 2020 due to strong consumer demand amid the COVID‑19 pandemic, decreased in May as a result of temporary price control mechanisms put in place by the Government ( FPMA Food Policies ). Between June and September, prices increased slightly and reached levels well above those in September a year earlier, reflecting higher export quotations from the Russian Federation, the main wheat supplier to the country, and a year‑on‑year reduction in the domestic output.

Prices of potatoes, another important staple food, strongly declined between May and July 2020, with the arrival to the markets of the newly harvested tubers. Prices slightly increased in August and September, in line with seasonal trends.