The annual Honey Festival was opened for the fourth time on August 11th on Batumi Boulevard and closed on August 12th in Batumi Botanical Garden. Up to 45 beekeepers from across Georgia once again presented their honey and by products for the festival visitors. Honey themed activities were held for children’s entertainment; visitors could see the ancient beehive at the special corner for jara beekeepers from Ajara and could taste different kind of honey from different parts of Georgia. Batumi Botanical Garden promoted Goderdzi Alpine Garden; live music kept the celebration spirit all day.
“Beekeeping is our family business. We started participating in the festival from the very beginning and it became a tradition. Each year we promote our products and each year we find new clients. This annual festival helps us to make our products more visible and popular” - Shorena Kezheradze, Khelvachauri municipality, Ajara.
“I have attended the festival in Batumi for the 1st time and the most important thing was linkages made at the festival. I’ve seen many new things, for example, Jara beehive and original packages for honey jars. These things made me think of new ideas how to advertise my product” - Tatyana Bulya, Zugdidi municipality, Samegrelo.
This year full sustainability was attained when the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara officially allocated a budget for the festival with its N(N)LE Agroservice Center as the co-organizer of the festival along with the Ajara Beekeepers Business Association (ABBA) under the Ajara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) as the main organizer.
“The festival is very important for promoting farmers and their products. The Ajara government supports such events to facilitate farmers and local honey producers to expend their businesses, make linkages and exchange experience among one another” – Tornike Rizhvadze, Chairman of the Government of Ajara.
“As we see, this year the festival is larger in scale and more organized in terms of labeling the product. Packaged, labeled and certified product is a step forward to the European and international market”. – Tite Aroshidze, Minister of Agriculture of Ajara.
Follow the Link of Adjara TV news on the event.
Manana Dumbadze was one of fifteen guesthouse owners from Keda, Shuakhevi and Khulo invited to attend an educational seminar hosted by the Goderdzi Alpine Garden (GAG) on September 18th on how biodiversity, conversation and Jara beekeeping can be used for business promotion and attracting more tourists.
‘The seminar was interesting and will motivate me to generate new ideas. I am arranging a garden in front of my house and I received information about plants. The GAG promised to help me to do it. I have beehives but I’m thinking of switching to Jara beekeeping, because it will be more interesting to our visitors, as it carries a traditional value.’ Manana Dumbadze, a guesthouse owner.
The seminar participants agreed on further coordination and information dissemination among others.
‘I am planning to have a Jara apiary from the next year. I will also include the GAG on our tour. I have a small cottage on the Goderdzi Pass, and I am planning to have visitors there.’ Nodar Shervashidze, a guesthouse owner.
Representatives of the Batumi Botanical Garden (BBG) and specialists from the BBG’s Local Flora and Conservation Department will continue educational seminars for teachers and school students in the upcoming year. The GAG is developing its role in wild flora conservation and eco-education with seminars and a beekeeping area, aiming to publicize the value conservation and traditional Jara beekeeping can have for sustainable local development and teach people interested in taking it up.
Officially opened in July, 2020, the GAG has already attracted sixteen thousand visitors since the opening, making it the prominent tourist destination in mountainous Ajara.
Emili is a young girl who has become an internet sensation in Georgia. Her YouTube channels Emili TV and Emili Family TV reach 708,000 subscribers. She regularly shares educational and entertainment content, including films about products she likes, many parents and their children watch her shows and follow her recommendations. Through ALCP facilitation, she (and her production team) decided to ‘investigate’ the Georgian Milk Mark.
The Georgian Milk Mark (GMM) films (on Emili TV and Emili Family TV) have reached 360,000 views just in two weeks.
Traditional Jara beekeeping has reached a new audience through a report on Al Jazeera English and its Youtube Channel, with an audience of forty million in Gulf States alone. The report was developed in Ajara with assistance of the Jara Beekeepers Association (JBA), telling stories of female and male Jara beekeepers, emphasizing commercialization and future opportunities for Jara honey.
The Prime Minister of Georgia, the Chairman of the Ajara Autonomous Republic, the Mayor of Tbilisi City, and other government officials visited the Agro-Keda factory in Keda to see the honey production and packaging process, along with other Nena production. The honey showcase, Jara hive, different types of Nena produced honey for tasting, and honey catalogues were their favorites. The Prime Minister asked questions related to honey export and took the catalogues to find more details about honey.
Located in Khulo, Ajara at 2000m above sea level, the Goderdzi Alpine Garden is now open. On Thursday, two hundred guests from government, municipal agencies, non-governmental and international organizations, travel agencies, scientists and botanists attended the opening ceremony.
Huge government support was there.
‘Opening of this natural monument will help Khulo municipality with further growth. We are working on the development of the local infrastructure. Those works together are increasing income for locals. My Special thanks to the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency, Adjaristskalli LLC, and other organizations for making this project happen.’ – Tornike Rijvadze, the Chairman of the Ajara Autonomous Republic.
The Swiss Ambassador highlighted how natural treasure can positively impact local habitants, the means of quality-oriented tourism.
‘From the very beginning, we acknowledged the importance of the Goderdzi Alpine Garden not only for the region but also for Georgia at large. It is the initiative where eco-friendly tourism and agriculture are forcing each other for the benefit of rural settlers of the mountainous Ajara. It is also helping market with locally produced cheese, wild Jara honey and other local product.’ – Patric Franzen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to Georgia.
The Goderdzi Alpine Garden is an example of public-private cooperation.
‘Important thing about this is the sharing. We had a vision, we went to the Batumi Botanical Garden and shared this vision of taking this beauty and using it in the countryside so that all the people living here can also enjoy this vision. The opening of this garden is a symbol of positivity in a very negative time globally, a symbol of people getting together for something good.’ – Helen Bradbury, the ALCP Team Leader.
The main backer of the Goderdzi Alpine Garden is the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through the Mercy Corps Georgia implemented Alliances Caucasus Programme (ALCP). The project is supported by the Hydropower Company Adjaristskali and the Government of Ajara Autonomous Republic. The garden is being developed with the backstopping of Munich and Lautaret Botanic Gardens.
Follow the links on the opening of the Goderdzi Alpine Garden: Ajara TV, Imedi TV, Ajara Government FB, Ajara Tourism Department FB.
Last week, Tsivis Kveli Ltd in Kakheti distributed 250 kg different types of GMM cheese through the distribution company Georgian Imports in hypermarkets and cafés throughout Chicago. The dairy is now planning the next export in a few weeks.
