Landell Mills announces Georgia TRTA contract win for new Environment and Water Division

Landell Mills is pleased to announce the first contract win of our new Environment and Water Division: an irrigation-focused Transactional Technical Assistance (TRTA) based in Georgia and funded by the Asian Development Bank, entitled ‘TA-6648 GEO: Preparing the Water Resources Sector Development Program – Project Design Consultants.’

The 12-month, $850k, project starts in February 2021 and will feature the inputs of twenty-seven experts, including five Landell Mills in-house staff. We will implement this contract alongside our in-country partners, ILF Consulting Engineers.

The TRTA will support the Asian Development Bank in the design of a proposed programme to modernise irrigation approaches implemented in Eastern Georgia. The proposed programme, has two lending components: a policy-based loan to promote institutional, governance, management, and financial management reforms in the Georgian irrigation sector; and an investment project to modernise outdated irrigation and demonstrate innovative agricultural production through water efficient technologies within the project area.

3 million hectares (43%) of Georgia is agricultural land, which also includes pastures and meadows. Agriculture accounts for about 52% of the country’s labour force, while 98% of farm workers are considered self-employed. The current situation in the Georgian agricultural sector significantly affects poverty indicators, and according to GeoStat the average annual salary of a Georgian farmworker amounted to only 64% of national average (2013). As such, irrigation and on-farm water management is a vital concern to much of Georgian society, both directly to those working within the agricultural industry, and indirectly for all who benefit from the continued flourishing of Georgian agricultural infrastructure.

The success of this TRTA will ultimately lead to the promotion of rural agricultural development and food security in Georgia, through informing the design of a programme which will improve access to and implementation of irrigation within the Georgian agricultural sector.

Landell Mills Project Manager, Alex Trowell, said “this is an exciting win for the Environment and Water Division, and we are looking forward to developing the programme design over the coming months, which responds to the government's needs and aligns with ADB strategies.”

We are confident that it will be the first of many wins for our new Division.