A Non-Governmental organization Rural Communities Development Agency was established in 1997 by a group of small farmers, farmers’ credit unions and farmers’ co-operatives, CBOs and NGOs, which are the main stakeholders in its activities. The members of the organization are 1200 physical persons and 74 legal entities.
RCDA carries out its activities in cooperation with different institutions active in rural areas of Georgia. Principal institutional partners Ministries of Agriculture, Environment and Nature Protection, Health and Labour, Green’s Movement of Georgia, Tbilisi Technical University, Tbilisi Agrarian University, NGOs in different parts of Georgia, Georgian Mountain Federation (GMF), Ecological Farmers Association of Georgia (SEMA) ,Farmers Servicing Centre (FSC).
RCDA permanent staff is comprised of 9 officers. Experts in rural farming systems, planning and management, irrigation specialist, social worker, marketing experts, environmental experts, experts in renewable energy and post-harvest handling of crops and value-added chain. Over 20 volunteers from different scientific and research institutions experts in various fields are involved.
RCDA carries out its activities through affiliated offices and partner organizations in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Racha, Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli, Samtskhe Javakheti, Guria and Kakheti Regions of Georgia.
Since January, 2008 within the framework of ELA (Empowerment and Local Action) program a project “Support of rural people in selected communities to overcome the poverty, and sustain the livelihoods through building their skills and capacities in environmental sanitation and economic development by transfer of knowledge and affordable technologies” that is financially supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is carried out in cooperation with Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF), Netherlands.