Aspirations and realities of rural youth in Georgia

15/07/2026

In Georgia, farming remains at the heart of rural life. At the same time, limited local employment opportunities, financial insecurity, and unequal access to education, finance, and essential services continue to shape the choices of young people in rural areas, often contributing to migration. These constraints have widened the gap between the realities of rural life and the aspirations of a younger generation seeking professional growth, decent livelihoods, and, where opportunities exist, a greater role in local development. 

World Youth Skills Day, observed annually on 15 July, is an opportunity to reflect on these obstacles and recognize the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship.

Addressing these challenges is essential not only for youth empowerment but also for advancing gender equality, strengthening agrifood systems, and ensuring sustainable rural development. To better understand the situation of rural youth, in 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted a study entitled “Situation and needs of rural youth in Georgia – Focus on agriculture and rural development”. The study provides insights into the challenges, aspirations and opportunities facing young people in rural areas. It highlights the structural constraints that limit their participation in agrifood systems while poposing ways to strengthen their economic and civic engagement. 

Limits and constraints

Despite high levels of educational attainment, many young people struggle to translate qualifications into employment. This disconnect contributes to skills mismatches and credential inflation, leaving young people, particularly university graduates returning to rural communities, without viable career pathways.

Structural barriers to accessing productive assets further constrain rural youth's economic opportunities. Agricultural land in Georgia is highly fragmented, and, on average, agricultural holdings fail to reach 5 hectares in size. According to UN Women, small landholdings make it significantly more difficult for smallholders – particularly young women – to access bank loans, qualify for government support schemes, or turn a farming idea into a viable commercial agricultural enterprise. 

As a result, rural economies offer limited employment opportunities beyond subsistence farming and a narrow range of public sector jobs. Together, these constraints limit the availability of sustainable rural employment and directly influence migration patterns. 

People behind the numbers

These structural challenges are not just reflected in statistics – they are realities for young people across rural Georgia. The experience of Kristine Khazhomia, a young teacher from Martvili in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, illustrates these dynamics. She returned to her community, where she now works at the local school while also engaging in small-scale farming. She grows vegetables and aspires to establish a greenhouse business in the future. 

However, like many young people, Kristine faces limited opportunities for professional growth. 

“Once you reach a certain stage of development, you tend to get stuck and have to adapt to the limited environment that exists,” she explains. From her classroom, she observes how her most ambitious students leave to pursue higher education in cities and rarely return due to the lack of local prospects. Despite her strong attachment to her community, Kristine herself is considering migration, primarily to secure better opportunities for her children. Her story reflects a broader reality: for many rural youth, migration is not simply a personal choice, but often a response to structural constraints and limited local opportunities.

Creating opportunities

Still, rural youth are not disengaged. Across Georgia, young women and men are showing increasing interest in agriculture, entrepreneurship, environmental protection, and community development. An enabling environment can help translate these aspirations into viable livelihoods.

‘’Making rural areas more attractive to young people requires coordinated efforts to address multiple socio-economic challenges that extend beyond job creation alone. These efforts should include improving rural infrastructure; enhancing the quality of school, pre-school and vocational education; access to quality public services; and developing cultural and recreational facilities, among other measures,“ said Kyial Arabaeva, FAO Rural Development Officer. „In collaboration with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and the Ministry of Regional Development, FAO is working to address some of the most pressing issues by engaging young people in local development planning, providing agricultural and business development training, creating youth spaces, supporting the improvement of community assets and implementing small-scale investment support schemes.“  

Over the last decade, Georgia has strengthened its institutional framework for youth development. Institutions such as the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth, the Youth Agency and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture increasingly recognize the important role of rural youth in education, agriculture and rural development. FAO’s youth-focused work has also contributed to a more holistic approach to youth engagement in agrifood systems and rural development, creating new spaces for dialogue, cooperation and participation at national, regional and global levels. These initiatives include the National Agricultural Olympiad, Ideathon, the World Food Forum and the Regional Rural Youth Forum.

“We at FAO seek to ensure that young people are meaningfully engaged in agrifood systems, rural development, digitalization, innovation and climate resilience,“ underlined Tinatin Kbilashvili, FAO Youth Focal Point in Georgia. 

More specifically, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, FAO supported the establishment of the core group of the National Youth Network for Agriculture and Rural Development as a space where institutions, partners and young people can come together, listen to one another, exchange knowledge and build stronger connections.

“Youth are vital to transforming rural areas, bringing fresh ideas and determination to create new opportunities,” added Kbilashvili.

Yet the story of rural youth in Georgia is not only one of barriers. It is also a story of motivation, resilience and growing institutional attention. Across the country, young women and men are showing interest in agriculture, rural entrepreneurship, environmental protection, tourism and community development. With the right support and through coordinated efforts among national ministries, local authorities, international organizations and FAO, these initiatives can be scaled and sustained, becoming an important driver of sustainable and inclusive rural transformation.

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This article was prepared under the Inclusive Rural Development and Sustainable Agriculture project, funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) as part of International Partnerships Austria. It is developed within the framework of the Awareness-raising Campaign for Social Inclusion, Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Youth in Rural Georgia, which highlights stories, experiences, and evidence from rural communities across the country.

Through this campaign, we aim to amplify the voices of rural women and men, showcase good practices, and contribute to a broader understanding of gender equality, social inclusion, and sustainable rural development. The featured stories continue the dialogue initiated in earlier campaign materials, including Rural women in Georgia: Insights from the Country Gender Assessment and Cultivating Resilience: Tea Jijava’s Journey of Empowering Women in Rural Georgia.