With every passing year, Georgia’s mountainous regions become quieter and emptier: Young workers are leaving in search of better opportunities, drawn to big cities like the capital, Tbilisi. Limited jobs, harsh conditions, and poor infrastructure are driving them away from home. Those who stay behind are struggling to keep their local economies alive.
To help tackle this issue, EU4Business and the German government, through the German Agency for International Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, or GIZ), have launched a joint project with a local NGO called Women-for-Women. Funded by the European Union, the Catalysing Economic and Social Life (CESL) project aims to develop sources of income for residents in four regions of Georgia – Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Guria, Imereti, and Kakheti. The goal is to help reduce the migration of the population from these areas to Tbilisi, and conversely increase the motivation for people to move to the regions.
Two such motivated people are Irma Chaladze and her husband Zaza Giorgadze, who two years ago moved from the city of Rustavi, close to the capital, to the village of Erkneti, in Chokhatauri municipality in Western Georgia’s Guria region. Irma had always dreamed of creating something she could call her own – something that would not only bring her personal fulfilment, but also serve as a source of income.
Her journey into entrepreneurship began by chance: one day, she came across a greenhouse for sale online. Instinctively, she knew it was exactly what she needed, and without hesitation she decided to buy it.
“But the process of assembling, maintaining, and running a greenhouse turned out to be far more challenging than the polished Instagram videos made it seem,” Chaladze recalls. To build up her expertise, she immersed herself in learning, attending multiple training sessions, informational meetings, and online courses.
Finally, with support from the CESL project, she was able to launch her own greenhouse business, called Guruli Ezos Satburi. She now grows a variety of greens and supplies them to local vendors.
“Village life is tough,” Chaladze said. “But when people support you and give you the tools you need to grow stronger, you feel like you can’t just give up. And strengthening rural economies is essential.”
In the future, she hopes to expand her 50-square-metre greenhouse and develop agrotourism. Recently, she hosted a few guests from abroad, taking them to local sights and organising hands-on workshops – teaching them how to make Khachapuri (a traditional Georgian cheese bread, and a national dish of Georgia), harvest tea leaves, and work with felt. The experience sparked an idea: what if she could welcome guests every season?
“I think it will be beneficial for the entire village,” she says. “The village feels empty now – I don’t even have a neighbor to talk to. I hope I can set an example and inspire others to leave the cities and return to rural life.”
Some young people are already doing just that: In the village of Goraberezhouli, also located in Western Georgia’s Guria region, young couple Khatuna Beridze and Giorgi Tkesheliadze are making some of the region’s finest organic wine.
Goraberezhouli is a small village set in the midst of rolling hills, which is known for its lush greenery, fertile farmland, and traditional Georgian hospitality. And this is where Beridze and Tkesheliadze decided to open their winery, called ‘Baba’s Marani’.
Tkesheliadze developed an interest in winemaking during his childhood, inspired by watching his father cultivate vineyards. Although he was too young at the time to fully grasp the complexities of the craft, his fascination with growing vines remained with him to adulthood.
“After my father-in-law passed away in 2018, we decided to continue his beloved work,” Beridze remembers. She and her husband learned to grow seedlings and graft vines, and they became deeply involved in both viticulture and winemaking.
Their dedication was quickly rewarded with success, and Beridze and her husband started to produce organic wines. They also cultivated Goruli Mtsvane and Jani-Skhilatubani – two ancient Georgian grape varieties with lineages that date back centuries. Year after year, their harvest grew, and before long, they joined the Natural Wine Association – a collective of vine-growers and winemakers committed to organic, biodynamic viticulture and natural winemaking.
More produce meant more work for the family – work that they did by hand and that required lots of time and energy. To boost their capacity, and with support from the CESL project, the couple bought a full set of equipment for winemaking.
Beridze says their wines improved in quality with the introduction of new equipment. They now produce around 1,500 bottles a year, selling directly to clients, local markets, hotels, and online stores. Their main focus for the future is expanding into the EU, where Georgian wine is already well known, and is in strong demand from consumers.
By Team GT
