Marigolds, blue mallow and basil

The Georgian village of Argokhi in the Kakheti Region has had to suffer many setbacks in recent decades. The war and the political situation resulted in serious economic difficulties among the population. The young people in particular were affected by the resulting lack of prospects. For this reason, the EthicFinance Association decided to help the village in 2012. The original plan was to provide the young people with theoretical and practical training in the cultivation of various herbs. Interested villagers also participated in the programme afterwards. The harvest was subsequently processed and sold. In this way the participants were provided with an insight into the underlying principles of entrepreneurial thinking, various technical skills and a sense of what can be achieved when working together.

From the very start it was clear that the village was in need of a sustainable stimulus in order to have a positive influence on the young people living there. The cultivation of biodynamic herbs such as marigolds or basil, plants which have actually been grown there for centuries, but which had been forgotten during the Soviet era, appeared to be the ideal solution. The soil was good and there were also enough workers available. The cultivation of the herbs and the construction of a small herb drying plant were intended to demonstrate above all in practice what an efficient method of working actually means. These young people were shown by various tasks how to carry out the intentional production of herbs in harmony with man and nature, how marketing works and how it is possible to enter into partnerships for this purpose.

At the beginning of the project the cultivation of herbs was to be run solely by young people of the village. However, during the subsequent course of events it became increasingly clear that the women of the village were also very interested in herb cultivation, and so they were also incorporated into the project. A Demeter adviser from Switzerland, who was also a long-term expert on Georgia, was responsible together with a teacher for conveying the technical expertise to the villages. The seminars that accompanied the practical training dealt with a large number of topics. The agenda included, for example, biodynamic agriculture, the teaching of computer skills, production, financial accounting, drying and marketing strategies. The contents were prepared and taught in the form of a cooperation between the EthicFinance Association, the Georgian organic association Elkana and the Demeter adviser.

In retrospect it turned out that for the villagers the theoretical training component was of particular interest, mainly because otherwise there is often no other form of access to more education. For this reason, EthicFinance would like to offer more seminars on various topics in the future.