Georgia is a lower-middle-income, food-deficit country with a population of 4.4 million people. An estimated 16.3 percent of the total labour force is unemployed and it is estimated that 21 percent of the population lives below the official poverty line (with respect to 60 percent of the median consumption) and 8.8 percent – in extreme poverty (with respect to 40 percent of the median consumption).
In 2008 WFP was in the final stages of closing its operations in Georgia after the country had experienced five years of unprecedented economic growth reaching 9 percent up until August 2008 when war erupted over South Ossetia.
The 2008 war in Georgia displaced around 130,000 people living in and around the conflict areas. It also contributed to a nationwide socio-economic downturn, compounded by the impact of the global financial crisis. Post conflict, growth plummeted to 2.3 percent in 2008 and negative 3.8 percent in 2009. Economic performance in 2010 was back to its positive trend, demonstrating GDP growth by 6.4 percent in 2010 and by 5.8 percent for the first quarter of 2011.
WFP responded to the humanitarian situation in Georgia by extending its operations to mid 2011 to support a smooth transition from emergency relief for internally displaced people (IDPs) to livelihood creation and restoration as well as an orderly handover to the government.
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