COMMUNITY-BASED COOPERATION AS AN EFFECTIVE MECHANISM OF THE RECOVERY OF THE HIGLANDS IN GEORGIA

The organization of a single production cycle within the cooperative (stock feed for livestock, dairy and dairy products (including products produced on the place of origin: “dambalkhacho (a kind of blue cheese), stuffed cheese, sheep cheese), meat and meat products, wool and leather production) will ensure the rational use of grasslands, reduce feed costs and will significantly increase shareholder returns. In view of the diversity of non-timber forest products in the highlands of Georgia and the rapidly growing demands in international markets, wild-growing fruit picking (dog-rose, crab apple, cornel, sea buckthorn, etc.) within community cooperatives and developing their drying, storage and bio-production and sales at high prices have great potential. Creating a value chain for the production of non-timber forest products in Georgia would be ensured through supporting the strengthening of the organizational and technical-technological capabilities of the community-based cooperatives. The above model of the Highland Caucasus can be extended to all communities and villages after defining the status of village and rural entrepreneur (village as a territorial unit/vital area), which implies the transfer of the permanent ownership and use of state-owned land, forest, pasture, water and mineral resources to the communities. If this model is properly organized, the most complex military-political, economic and demographic problems related to the highland border sectors will be addressed without an additional financial cost to the State and changes in the internal territorial arrangement of the country. The people who live here will simultaneously act as guardians, border guards and farmers of the country. One of the primary objectives of State policy should be to encourage care and support of people living in rural areas, as well as to give them incentives to work (strengthening the authority of farming) in order to feed society.