Batumi Boulevard is still buzzing from this summer’s sweetest festival, Honey Festival 2016. Organized for the second time by the Ajara Beekeepers Business Association on 13th of August. Last year’s debut festival was so impressive that this year’s festival had the support of governmental bodies Agroservice Center and the Cultural Heritage Preservation Agency of Ajara, who wanted to contribute to the festival and promote local honey production. Thus the festival was larger in scale this time, with activities taking place over two days, starting in Batumi Boulevard and closing in Gonio Fortress on 16th of August.
24 beekeepers, representing Ajara and the Western Georgia region, were brought together and exhibited and sold their honey and by-products offering free taste testing for visitors. Information and interesting facts about beekeeping and honey modern beekeeping equipment, souvenirs, traditional beehives, original wax figures and honey cakes were all on show. Honey themed entertainment activities for all ages, including face-painting, games, drummers’ show; live music from DJ, jazz and rock bands were laid on.
The Chairman of the Government of Ajara, the Minister of Agriculture of Ajara, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Ajara; representatives from the Swiss Cooperation Office, the Department of Tourism and Resorts of Ajara and regional NFA attended the event.
Heather Briggs, agronomist, agro-consultant on plant productivity, international expert on cheese and journalist visited Tbilisi to hold the training for agro-journalists last week. "Batumelebi" newspaper interviewed her.
For the first time in Georgia a training on agro journalism was conducted for media representatives wishing to report specifically on rural issues and news. The main purpose of the training was to fill knowledge gaps of media practitioners in crops, livestock husbandry and agriculture management and to introduce the basics of agro journalism. Heather Briggs, an international expert and member of British Guild of Agricultural Journalists - was invited to lead a 5 day training from January 26th to February 2nd. About 50 representatives of regional, national broadcasters and printed media participated in the event. The training was organized by the Georgian Regional Media Association and facilitated by the Alliances Lesser Caucasus Programme.
By Helen Bradbury: Team Leader, Alliances Lesser Caucasus Programme
We are in an interesting conundrum. Gender in most places has been written-in to law. Bar a few notable exceptions, every country in the world, has varying degrees of success in applying universal suffrage. Fifty countries are signed up to the CEDAW convention (the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women). On the CEDAW world map of Discrepant Government Behaviour Concerning Women, the countries shaded dark green which denotes ‘virtually no enforcement of laws consonant with CEDAW or such laws do not even exist’, are where you expect them to be and in fact they are relatively few. It is the next two categories which disturb, covering the vast majority of the globe, the mid and lighter green, where laws are partly or fully consonant with CEDAW but there is little effective enforcement or spotty enforcement of them and the issue is low priority or hit and miss. After the gains, the laws and ratifications of the last centuries it seems that we must tread very carefully indeed for we must counteract indifference, in which inertia and inactivity stop us moving forward.
Government Momentum Builds on Animal Movement Route after the years of discussion and information exchange. The biggest challenge in Georgian sheep sector – the Animal Movement Route issue has come to the point when there is a willingness and concrete plan for taking actions and reaching tangible results.
The Eco Films LTD film The Road, commissioned by ALCP KK, was shown at the BIFED - Bozcaada International Festival of Ecological Documentary on October 31, 2014. The documentary was presented in the non-competition section and highly appreciated by the audience.
In October 24th the first flocks of migrating animals went through the newly arranged bypass route in Tsintskaro village, Tetritskaro Municipality. Testing of the new route was carried out successfully - sheep, cattle, horses, donkeys, dogs and shepherds passed on the new road without any difficulties. The movement was monitored by the Tetritskaro Municipality DRR WG members and the Tsintskaro village Rep.
