SOCIETY

All-in-One Digital System for Animal Health and Food Safety

On June 7, it is World Food Safety Day. The day is marked to raise awareness of the importance of food safety for human health and sustainable development. A fl exible, effective and accessible digital system, fully compatible with the EU requirements on traceability and food safety, helps to make a difference.

At a time when consumers demand transparency and visibility in all processes, animal identifi cation and recording systems seems to be unparalleled management tools in animal health and food safety for countries like Georgia, where a high proportion of rangeland and pastures makes livestock an important component of the national agricultural economy and rural livelihood.

In 2016, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC), in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), embarked on a new project in a bid to support Georgia in developing digital animal identifi cation and traceability systems with all technical features to record and monitor data on farm holdings and various animals. By virtue of the National Identifi cation and Traceability Systems (NAITS) project, Georgia will have its fi rst fully-functional digital National Animal Identifi cation and Traceability System (NAITS) in 2021.

“For the past 25 years, Switzerland has been contributing to the sustainable development of Georgia,” says Danielle Meuwly, Regional Director, Swiss Cooperation Offi ce for the South Caucasus, Embassy of Switzerland. “Our efforts have focused on the improvement of the productivity of the livestock sector. Food safety is an important building block in this regard, because the way in which food is produced, stored and consumed affects its safety and people’s health. It requires the broad-based participation of the government, its institutions, professionals, donor organizations and consumers. Such an ambitious, country-wide undertaking needs to be supported by a pertinent digital system, which would, inter alia, modernize traditional practices. We are happy to be part of this project and thereby contribute to the health of the people living in or visiting Georgia.”

FROM FARM TO FORK

While the name “National Identifi cation and Traceability Systems” is quite self-explanatory, in practical terms it means permanent identifi cation and traceability ‘from farm to fork’. This phrase was coined for a system of identifi cation of animal products back to farm premises.

The NAITS project was designed to help farmers, producers and relevant government agencies, such as the National Food Agency (NFA), coordinate policies pertaining to animal health more effectively. The system helps the NFA to keep a real-time data on farm animals and with this, contain disease outbreaks more effectively. The digital system also enables an animal product to be traced back to an animal’s farm of origin, and, in case of disease outbreak, for necessary swift measures to be taken. This system ultimately serves to ensure food safety in the country and also helps to eventually boost meat export potential to EU countries, which have more stringent rules on imports of animal origin.

Setting up a digital system is just one technical aspect of the project. For the system to succeed and prove to be functional and sustainable, smooth cooperation from farmers, slaughterhouses and veterinarians need to take place so that new-born farm animals are refl ected in the system, their movement properly registered and de-registered in slaughterhouses in due time. For this to function properly, a legal framework for the implementation and enforcement of animal identifi cation and traceability was updated, and NFA personnel, 125 government veterinarians and 44 veterinary inspectors, supported by 600 private veterinarians, were trained on using and complying with the system.

Ensuring cooperation from all the stakeholders to keep real-time data on animals is a lengthy process and, apart from trainings and equipping, adequate incentive mechanisms need to be put in place so that all involved stakeholders are engaged in using the digital system. The second phase of the project will focus more on wider stakeholder engagement and incentive mechanisms, including policy dialogue to foster sustainable handover of the project to the NFA.

“NFA’s veterinarians are actively involved in the implementation of project activities,” says deputy head of the NFA, Vasil Basiladze. “Measures undertaken so far have contributed to the improvement of animal identifi cation, as well as the traceability of both animals and animal products. The next phase of the project will be vital for a successful completion of the initiated process. Animal identifi cation and traceability is an important and integral part of the ‘from farm to fork’ production chain, ultimately contributing to rooting high standards, and to improving the export potential and competitiveness of Georgian products.”

Photo by Goga Chanadiri The ‘from farm to fork’ production chain will contribute to rooting high standards and to improving the export potential and competitiveness of Georgian products. INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH

The project is being implemented in Georgia; however, the system and its impact is not limited to the geographical borders of the country. The functional animal identifi cation and traceability system will considerably enhance access to the regional markets of live animals and animal products. In this respect, the project will explore the avenues for developing compatible systems in Armenia and Azerbaijan. In the meantime, though, the project made its name in the far country of North Macedonia. The offi cials of the Republic have requested the project to facilitate the knowledge exchange on Georgian NAITS with a view to updating the existing system currently in place.

The project “National Identifi cation and Traceability Systems” is co-funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and implemented by the UN Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO). The project was launched in 2016 with the total budget of CHF 5’335’000. The current phase of the project will be closed by the end of 2021.

Lips Sewn Shut in Chiatura: Protest against ‘Georgian Manganese’

BY TEAM GT, SOURCE: OC MEDIA

Locals living in the village of Shukruti in Chiatura, a mining town in western Georgia, who for years have been demanding compensation from Georgian Manganese Ltd, the company that owns and operates the manganese mines there, have begun to sew shut their lips in an extreme form of hunger strike. 10 residents of Shukruti are now on hunger strike, and fi ve men and three women among them have sewn shut their mouths in a demand for attention from the central government.

Residents of the village of Shukruti have been saying for many years that they are suffering because of the work done by the manganese mining company, that their houses are collapsing, roads are being damaged, and holes are appearing on their land.

The protesters have been demanding compensation from the company, but have so far received nothing.

“In Chiatura, residents of the sinking village of Shukruti, near the Korokhnali mine owned by Georgian Manganese, who have been protesting for 85 days, began to sew shut their lips in protest,” news agency ‘Mtis Ambebi’ reported on May 11. “Protesters are demanding compensation from Georgian Manganese. Houses in the village of Shukruti are partially or completely destroyed, visible holes have appeared in the yards. Locals say ‘Georgian Manganese’ extracts manganese under their village.

“The protesters, who have used extreme measures of protest, are demanding a meeting with government offi cials and attention from human rights organizations.”

The protesters tried to set up a tent in front of Chiatura City Hall, but were reportedly prevented from doing so by the police chief and the city mayor. Currently, their tent is set up in Shukruti, near the Korokhnali Mine.

“No-one is paying attention, so we were forced to turn to this extreme form of protest and have our mouths sewn up. We demand the involvement of the central government to solve this problem,” the locals claim.

The problems of the local population have been exacerbated since 2019, when the demonstrations fi rst started. Residents blocked the road in September 2019 and suspended the operation of manganese mines.

Following the September protests, a commission was set up with Georgian Manganese, with the participation of the city mayor and the village governor, to investigate the damage and then start compensating for the loss, but locals say the commission’s work has not yielded any real results.

The position of Georgian Manganese is that the damage reported by the population is not related to the company’s activities, but was caused by works conducted during the Soviet period and was compensated during that period.

“Giorgi Neparidze, one of the leaders of the Shukruti protest, says that they halted their protest in June 2020 after receiving a verbal promise that there would be a three-party agreement between local residents, the government, and Georgian Manganese, ensuring that the company would compensate the villagers. But such an agreement never emerged,” reported OC Media.

The same source says the protesters are living in a tent erected in 2019. There is no electricity in the tent, and in winter, residents brought a wood-burning stove to keep themselves warm. Recently, a second tent was erected for the women who have joined the protest.

“As mining is carried out 24/7, the sound of machinery makes it hard to have even a conversation. The protesters say the noise gives them frequent headaches,” reads the article.

One of the protesters on hunger strike over mining damage to the village of Shukruti says a man attempted to blackmail her with intimate footage of her daughter-in-law, OC Media revealed this week.

The article by Mariam Nikuradze and Tata Shoshiashvili tells the story of Vera Kupatadze, who is one of those who has sewn her mouth shut. Vera said she received the threats in two calls from an unknown number on 24 May.

In a recording of the call heard by OC Media, a man threatens to publish private footage of Kupatadze’s daughter-in-law if the protesters do not stop their strike.

Kupatadze said she immediately called the police and then went to the local police station with the recording and the phone number of the caller. She said that the police have not opened an investigation into the incident.

Several other protesters have also reported being threatened.

On June 1, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria responded to the Shukruti protest, noting her Offi ce has been monitoring the events developing in the village, and is aware that the locals demand fair compensation for property damaged by the ore mining works carried out by Georgian Manganese, as well as the involvement of the State in the process.

Representatives of the Public Defender met with the protesters on the ground and listened to their demands. They also have constant contact with the rally organizers.

“For the purpose of discussing the protesters’ demands with representatives of the company, on May 31, the Public Defender’s representatives communicated with a representative of 'Georgian Manganese,' who said that the company had assessed the property of the affected residents of Shukruti on the basis of the market prices,” reads the statement released by the Public Defender's Offi ce. “In addition, according to him, compensation does not mean deprivation of the right to own and use the property. According to the company representative, contracts are being signed with the population in stages, taking into account the degree of damage.

“In addition to the fact that the protesters distrust the evaluations made by the company and demand that the amount of compensation be determined by the Levan Samkharauli Forensics Bureau, the methodology of property valuation is also disputed between the parties. As we have learned, the special manager of the company publicly stated that the company was ready to apply to the Levan Samkharauli Forensics Bureau to evaluate the losses. In addition, the population demands that the obligation and terms of compensation payment by the company be specifi ed in the relevant contract.

“Given the diffi cult situation, the Public Defender of Georgia calls on the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development to engage in the negotiations between the Shukruti population and the company as a mediator in order to protect the citizens' property rights and allow them to live in a healthy environment. "The Public Defender continues to study the case in the context of the right to live in a healthy environment, as well as the alleged pressure exerted on the protesters.”