May 2018, Issue No. 37

E-NEWSLETTER FROM FAO IN

IN THIS ISSUE

 With EU support ENPARD stakeholders select priority value chains in Georgia

 FAO and NFA test new electronic system for animal identification and traceability

 EU, EBRD and FAO promote export of Georgia’s fresh culinary herbs

 FAO and Swiss delegation evaluate NAITS project implementation in Georgia

 FAO promotes advanced tool for price monitoring

 International partnership to address human-animal- environment health risks gets a boost

© FAO WITH EU SUPPORT ENPARD STAKEHOLDERS SELECT PRIORITY VALUE CHAINS IN GEORGIA 25/05/2018 - Dairy and beef production © FAO along with wheat, maize, potatoes, vegetables, and fruits are among the most favourable pre-selected value chains reflected in the baseline study conducted by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the support of EU. As part of the €12 million project under the EU-funded European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD III), FAO team provided groundwork for the support measures Based on the feedbacks from the stakeholders, FAO will choose a strategic approach aiming at developing agricultural for devising appropriate support systems and financial instruments for various value- sectors and making value-chains more chains. inclusive and sustainable in the eight targeted municipalities (, Tetritskaro, , Dedoplistskaro, Kazbegi, , Keda, ) of Georgia.

FAO has been arranging field visits and focus group discussions in the regions to detect priority agricultural sectors for further investment and support. The information gathered has been analysed by the FAO experts and presented today at the working meeting with the ENPARD stakeholders and partners for further consideration. The attendees were encouraged to participate in the discussion and to provide their in-field, location-specific information and experience that will enhance the capacity of the FAO’s team to develop a vision and a strategy relevant to the complex nature and agricultural circumstances of each of the eight municipalities.

E-newsletter from FAO in Georgia, May 2018

© FAO FAO and NFA test new electronic system for animal identification and traceability 22/05/2018 - FAO and the National Food Agency (NFA) of Georgia have launched a pilot programme for the National Animal Identification & Traceability System (NAITS) in the region. In this regard, representatives of the agency and FAO Within ENPARD's third phase, we continue this assistance to help make the introduced electronic tablets to be used agricultural sector more competitive and develop the rural areas,” Programme instead of paper forms, by local veterinary Manager of the Delegation of European Union to Georgia, Attaché Mrs. Cristina Casella said. officers. “Today, FAO’s team presented all the preliminary findings gathered in the © FAO municipalities. The study will be further revised according to the valuable suggestions, remarks and views that we received from the ENPARD partners. The workshop played an important role in developing a comprehensive and more complete picture of the state of agricultural and food value-chains in each of the eight municipalities,” said Javier SanzAlvarez, FAO-ENPARD Coordination Officer.

Based on the feedbacks from the stakeholders, FAO will choose a strategic approach for devising appropriate support systems and financial instruments for The pilot programme aims to outline all possible various value-chains. The study will further serve as an important pillar for the shortcomings related to the system and avoid all possible faults for the next phase of NAITS implementation of FAO’s pilot activities under the third phase of the EU-funded implementation. ENPARD programme, comprising various types of demonstration, information According to Mikheil Sokhadze, the National dissemination, engagement and other training activities for farmers. The project will Team leader of NAITS programme, the piloting is useful to test the updated system and related also provide individual grants to small farmers, rural entrepreneurs, cooperatives working process. and SMEs for investments to improve their overall competitiveness. Within the pilot programme, veterinarians Programme Manager of the Delegation of European Union to Georgia, Attaché Mrs. will be able to record information on animals Cristina Casella stressed the EU’s continuous commitment to help improve the lives of Georgian citizens through supporting agriculture and rural development in the and their owners in the updated database, country. “Over the past years, we have provided substantial assistance to the using electronic devices. As a result of joint government in building the capacity of relevant institutions, improving policy- work of FAO and the National Food Agency, making and implementing innovative programmes. Within ENPARD's third phase, three municipalities of Kakheti region have we continue this assistance to help make the agricultural sector more competitive been selected for piloting. Based on piloting and develop the rural areas” stated Mrs. Casella. results, veterinary paper forms might be The European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) is replaced with portable tablets recognised as one of the most successful agriculture and rural development initiatives funded by the European Union in Georgia. The first phase of ENPARD in Georgia focused on developing nationwide. This will significantly improve the potential of the quality of information tracking and agriculture. The second veterinary service, as well as simplify working and the third phases focus on creating diversified process. The National Food Agency has economic opportunities started implementing the National Animal for rural population that Identification and Traceability System in 2012. go beyond agricultural activities. More Since 2016, the process has been enhanced information on ENPARD is with financial support of the Swiss available © FAO Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC) at: www.enpard.ge and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). E-newsletter from FAO in Georgia, May 2018

EU, EBRD AND FAO PROMOTE EXPORT OF GEORGIA’S FRESH CULINARY HERBS

17/05/2018 - International Conference Herbs of Georgia supports the efforts of the Georgian Government to diversify and increase exports of high value products from the country and take greater advantage of serving 500 million consumer thanks to the Deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union (EU). Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) organized the Conference on 17 May in , Georgia. The event was supported by the EU in the framework of EU4Business Initiative and in close cooperation with the Ministry of Environment Production and Agriculture of Georgia and attracted over 60 participants from the industry. The goal of the event was to highlight investment opportunities in the culinary herbs value chain based on the findings of value chain © FAO assessment and technological audit carried out by the team of “FAO’s experience in Ukraine suggests that high quality fresh produce international and national experts. could be successfully sold beyond markets of the former soviet republics and additional efforts required to increase safety and quality of products pay back very well through much higher prices and lower risks of doing business. We are confident that Georgian fresh culinary herbs could find excellent markets in the EU, Middle East and, possibly, even in North America but growers would have to upgrade safety standards especially related to handling, packaging and logistics of herbs with GlobalGAP and HACCP principles used and minimum requirement,” says Andriy Yarmak, FAO.

The Government of Georgia has responded to growing demand from the EU for high value products by launching the Agro Zone Develop- © FAO ment project. This is a private-public partnership project (PPP) model that “Increased production of high value products in Georgia could have a enables to develop a greenhouse cluster in the Imereti region and will en- positive impact on the farm incomes, export revenues and modern sure sustainable quantities of high quality herbs for export. retail trade”, said Victoria Zinchuk, head of agribusiness advisory, EBRD. The conference was followed by a practical seminar/training on modern production and marketing of culinary herbs in Georgia. Considering favourable climate conditions for production of herbs and a long-standing growing tradition, Georgia has a good basis to build its expansion to the global market. So far, production and exports of fresh herbs are focused almost exclusively on the market of Russian Federation but there many other markets, which would welcome high value products from Georgia and provide adequate compensation for high quality products.

“The European Union, through several coordinated initiatives such as the EU4Business and ENPARD, is helping Georgian producers to im- prove their competitiveness and assisting them in entering new mar- kets and trade opportunities”, said Cristina Casella, Attaché on Agricul- ture at the EU Delegation to Georgia. © FAO

E-newsletter from FAO in Georgia, May 2018

FAO AND SWISS DELEGATION EVALUATE NAITS FAO PROMOTES ADVANCED TOOL FOR PRICE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION IN GEORGIA MONITORING

04/05/2018 - Manuel Sager, the Director General of the Swiss Agency © FAO for Development and Cooperation (SDC) visited the regional offices of the National Food Agency (NFA) and the Laboratory of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia in during his 3-day visit to Georgia on 2-3 May, 2018. The process of the implementation of animal identification- registration and traceability program (NAITS) was discussed during the meeting. NAITS is being implemented by FAO and the NFA with the financial support of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Austrian Development Agency. During the visit, Manuel Sager was acquainted with NAITS-related activities at the regional level, in particular, cattle ear tagging, data collection and recording in NFA's electronic database. FPMA tool and price databases have become a valuable public good for providing the international community and decision-© FAO makers with timely and reliable information.

24/05/2018 - FAO in Georgia©Auburn gathered University national statisticians of the state, analysts and private agencies of Georgia to introduce the Food Price Monitoring and Analysis Tool (FPMA), an electronic system that provides an advanced technical solution for dissemination and analysis of price information. For more than 15 Georgian statisticians, Natalia Merkusheva, FAO’s © FAO Economist from Rome provided the hands-on training in using the FPMA tool which provides an easy way to access the large amounts of “Development of agriculture is a priority for the Government of data present in the databases. It allows users to quickly browse single Georgia. Switzerland with UNDP, FAO, Mercy Corps and HEKS/ price series, create comparisons among markets, download charts, EPER support Georgia in accelerating progress in this sector. data and basic statistics such as averages, standard deviations and Overall, I am very satisfied with our engagement, partnerships, percentage changes. and cooperation for agriculture in Georgia, and SDC looks FPMA tool and price databases have become a valuable public good forward to continuous progress in this respect,” Manuel Sager for providing the international community and decision-makers with said. timely and reliable information. Earlier this year, FAO has already im- A new, improved system of animal identification-registration program plemented the tool in Georgia to assist the Ministry of Environmental started in 2016. Under this program, the electronic database is being Protection and Agriculture of Georgia to evaluate and analyse the pric- upgraded. This improved database will enable the NFA to track animal es on the agricultural products across the country. The establishment diseases and to ensure efficient disease control/eradication in the of the aforementioned system was supported by the European Union shortest possible time. under the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and “The identification-registration programme is directly related to food Rural Development (ENPARD). Along with the policy makers, up-to- safety and safe epidemiological situation in the country. It should be date statistics on local food prices will help rural families and farmers’ noted that Georgia is the first country in the region implementing the associations ensure that their production is in line with market trends. identification-registration program, which is important for the whole Small farms, often with few resources and little growth potential, will region,” said Mikhail Sokhadze, FAO's Identification-Registration Pro- gain access to valuable information that could lead to new economic gram Manager. opportunities. At the Akhaltsikhe laboratory, special attention was paid to its im- portance in supporting disease control measures in Samtskhe- Javakheti, as it is a border region. At the end of his visit, Manuel Sager met with local students and visited successful local enterprises.

E-newsletter from FAO in Georgia, May 2018

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP TO ADDRESS HUMAN-ANIMAL- ENVIRONMENT HEALTH RISKS GETS A BOOST

© FAO 30/05/2018 - The Food and Agriculture Organi- zation of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) have agreed to step up joint action to combat health threats associated with interactions between humans, animals and the environment. In a Memorandum of Understanding signed today, FAO, OIE and WHO agreed to strengthen their long-standing partnership, with a strong focus on tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

AMR is a high priority for the three organiza- tions, who are working together to develop FAO, the World Health Organization, and the World Organisation for Animal Health sign agreement to formalize and strengthen their cooperation global systems for AMR surveillance and use of antimicrobials, a global antimicrobial steward- ship programme, and a monitoring and evalua- tion framework for the global action plan.

A current comprehensive framework of international standards on responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials is regularly adapted to keep up with the development of scientific knowledge.

In addition to AMR, the new agreement will focus on improving disease forecasting capabilities for more informed and swifter responses to emerging and endemic zoonotic diseases (including foodborne diseases); helping countries strengthen their national health systems; and undertaking joint activities related to reduction of threats.

"Over 60 percent of existing and emerging pathogens affecting humans originate in animals; 75 percent of these from wildlife. So we cannot deal with human health, animal health, and ecosystem health in isolation - we have to look at them together, and address them together. This partnership pools the unique expertise of each organization and brings their combined weight to bear to do just that, via a 'One Health' approach," said FAO Director-General, Jose Graziano da Silva.

"Each sector has its own specificities but the Members Countries of our three organisations face the same challenges. Our collaboration is therefore fundamental to better help them respond, demonstrating that partnerships between international organisations support those at the regional, national and even local levels. This shows that the One Health approach is not just a concept, it's a daily reality that we build together through the development and the implementation of an ambitious working programme focused on our common prioritiesm" said OIE Director General, Dr Monique Eloit.

"The threat of antimicrobial resistance affects humans, animals and our ecosystem. That's why the Tripartite Partnership of WHO, FAO and OIE is so vital," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. "Working together is the only way to avoid the huge

human, social, economic and environmental costs of antimicrobial resistance."

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