Mr. Levan Davitashvili, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and Mr. Mamuka Meskhi, Assistant FAO Representative in Georgia awarded the winners of the first National Agricultural Olympiad in Georgia.

“This was the first agricultural contest with four different categories of participants involved – specialists, farmers, students, and pupils. With this first successful attempt we laid a foundation to the important tradition. An interest towards the Olympiad and engagement was quite high, but we hope for even more participants in the coming years. This contest can raise the interest towards the agriculture and lead the sector to more popularity and development,” said Mr.Davitashvili

Target audience of the Olympiad was broad - from the professionals with higher or vocational education in the agricultural sector, farmers who are engaged in the agricultural activities and have knowledge and experience as a result of a long-term practice, to the students from universities and vocational colleges with an agricultural profile, and the students of public and private high schools of the ages 14-18.

Launched in May 2021, the contest attracted more than 750 participants, who first took an online test in one of the agricultural fields – agronomy, veterinary, wine-making technology, agricultural mechanization, food technology and forestry. Schoolchildren were offered to pass the tests in environmental protection, beekeeping, vegetable growing, fruit growing or animal husbandry. At the second stage, a total of 37 winning top-scorers were revealed and awarded.

Mamuka Meskhi, Assistant FAO Representative in Georgia thanked all the supporters and partners of the Olympiad and congratulated the winners.

“We, together with our partners, have created a unique possibility for all people interested in the agricultural sector to participate in the contest, introduce themselves to the employers and discover more opportunities for developing their agricultural businesses. We hope that the winners of the Olympiad will broadly contribute to agricultural development in Georgia,’’ Mr. Meskhi said.

The awarding ceremony of the Olympiad was attended by the deputy ministers, representatives of the international organizations, partners and stakeholders.

The first Georgian National Agricultural Olympiad was conducted with the support from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, FAO, Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and Agricultural Development Association. 

Partners of the initiative were: the USAID Agriculture Program, project GRETA| Green Economy: Sustainable Mountain Tourism and Organic Agriculture, CENN, Environmental Information and Education Center (EIEC) and the Baraka company.