Organic conference in Georgia a great success

About 200 participants from 22 countries (the majority in Eastern Europe) came to the second International Conference on the Organic Sector Development in Central/Eastern European and Central Asian Countries. The venue where this successful event was held on 10 and 11 September 2009 was the Agricultural University of Tbilisi in Georgia. Many of those attending the conference took advantage of the excursions organised by the Organic Farming Association Elkana to get an impression of the country and its people.
(Picture: Organic and artisan products from Georgia and Ukraine on display in the foyer of the assembly hall where the conference was held)
After the first organic conference in Kiev (Ukraine) in April 2008, that was attended by around 220 guests, the organisers’ evaluation of the event was decidedly positive. Last year, these organisers were the Organic Federation of Ukraine and Organic Services in Munich. This year most of the preparation was carried out by the Munich consultancy in collaboration with the Georgian Organic Farming Association Elkana. The director of Elkana is Mariam Jorjadze (picture) and she was very happy with the running and the content of the conference this year. She expressed her gratitude to everyone involved in organising the event, including the university. “When I opened the conference a few days ago I couldn’t imagine how quickly the time would pass. It has been a very enjoyable experience for me, with lots of frank discussions with organic specialists from the most diverse countries. The time was rather short but nevertheless long enough to get to know something about each other, to set up contacts and to establish new partnerships,” said Mrs Jorjadze.

Everyone was in agreement that the organisation of the conference was excellent and, with around 50 talks, covered a wide range of topics. The organisers took good care of the guests too: they were given a conference folder and a smart, white linen bag, and they were taken to and fetched from their hotels. In the breaks and at lunch and dinner you had the opportunity to become acquainted with the excellent Georgian cuisine. (Picture: Fresh fruit for dessert and live music over lunch)

The aim of the conference was the exchange of information and ideas on organic farming, certification, creating domestic and export markets, and networking participants and organic organisations in the region. In most cases, the international visitors were in Georgia for the first time, and they were able to get to know other visitors from the neighbouring countries. A good half of the visitors came from Georgia and were engaged in agriculture, nature conservancy, tourism, science and research.

At the beginning of the conference, the guests were welcomed by Mariam Jorjadze from Elkana, Gerald A. Herrmann, the former President of IFOAM, Eugene Milovanov and Ketevan Laperashvili, the representative of the Minister of Agriculture. “Organic is becoming more and more a priority, and that’s why in Georgia we have put in place binding regulations,” explained Laperashvili on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture. Bishop Dawid (on left in picture) conveyed greetings from the Orthodox Patriarch of Georgia, something of great significance in this profoundly religious country. He said that the Patriarch had already set up an agricultural centre for the preservation of indigenous species of plants and animals. Professor Dr. Gela Javakhishvili, the vice-chancellor of the agricultural university, that was celebrating its 80 anniversary this year, gave full support to the conference and said: “I hope this exchange of ideas and experiences will lead to all manner of problem solving, and if it turns out that our organic agriculture guidelines are in need of revision, we’ll have to see that it’s done.”
(Picture: from left to right: Bishop Peter Dawid, Gela Javakhishvili, Ketevan Laperashvili, Mariam Jorjadze, Gerald A. Hoffmann, Martien Lankester, Eugene Milovanov)

The conference was held in the Faculty of Agriculture in the University of Tbilisi, where the Chair of Organic Agriculture was created three years ago, a position occupied by Professor Dr. Teo Urushdze, who is now teaching students of agriculture. Instrumental in this development were Professor Dr. Hartmut Vogtmann and Professor Dr. Angelika Ploeger. Vogtmann held the first eco-professorship in Germany (at the University of Kassel/Witzenhausen) at the beginning of the 1980s. He established his contact with Tbilisi seven years ago and this eventually led to the creation of the new chair of organic agriculture. (Picture: Professor Angelika Ploeger and Professor emeritus Hartmut Vogtmann during the mid morning break). Vogtmann is the chairman of a society for the promotion of natural and socially sensitive food and landscape culture (Verein zur Förderung einer natur- und sozialverträglichen Ernährungs- und Landschaftskultur).

Not for nothing have Vogtmann and Ploeger been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Georgia. Ploeger, Professor for Food Quality and Food Culture in Witzenhausen, has established six postgraduate studentships in eco-development in the Caucasus (three in Witzenhausen and three in Armenia and Georgia)
(Picture: The Iranian PhD. Student Sonika Aminforoughi explaining planning at the University of Kassel/Witzenhausen to set up a small organic dairy in Armenia)

Gerald A. Herrmann, co-owner of Organic Services, stressed the point that organic agriculture is not perfect as a system of production but is the best of what is available: “Organic agriculture offers many solutions, with the main issues being conserving nature and creating harmony with human activities.” He pointed out that in Central and Eastern Europe there was still a great deal to be done in cooperation, marketing, consultancy and legislation. He assured the conference that “IFOAM will give its full support to all endeavours in the region.”

On the information stand of the Organic Federation of Ukraine, Eugene Milovanov, the initiator of the first Eastern European/Central Asian organic conference a year and a half ago and co-organiser of the second conference, explained how much progress had been made in establishing domestic organic processing and marketing. Although the organic sector in Ukraine had been exclusively export oriented, since the beginning of 2009 there have been on sale 12 different sorts of jam, two juices (apple and grape), eight sorts of syrup and eleven sausage products from Mangalitza pigs (an endangered species). More products, for example ten types of dried fruit, will be available this autumn. In the meantime, five specialist wholefood shops have been started in Kiev, and more are being planned in the big cities (for example, Odessa), so that by the end of the year ten specialist shops could be operating. According to Milovanov, between 10 and 50 organic articles are on sale in about 100 supermarkets (among others Metro, Auchan, Fourchette), which means that for the first time people in Ukraine have an organic option.

To propagate the organic message, a series of books (including classics by Rudolf Steiner, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and Alex Bodolinski) is being published and distributed. (Picture: Eugene Milovanov holding the first edition of his Ukrainian organic magazine (circulation 10,000), that he says has been received with great interest)

Martien Lankester, the managing director of the Dutch Avalon Foundation and the main sponsor of the conference, also drew attention to the benefits of organic agriculture that had been proved by the FQH project (food,quality,health), and he emphasised the synergies that can be achieved through business cooperation with, for example, the church. “Eternity begins in a village” was a saying he concurred with, and one which placed the importance of the rural environment at the centre. (Picture on right: Malkhaz Jakeli giving a talk on organic wine growing in Georgia)

A whole range of specialist issues was addressed in 48 talks, each lasting 10-20 minutes, and in three parallel working groups. Participants at the conference received a CD with the presentations, along with other documentation. The topics addressed ranged from supporting women through organic agriculture in Armenia and eco-tourism on organic farms in Turkey to organic tea production in West Georgia. Other important topics were certification issues and wild collecting. The speakers and people attending the conference came from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Germany, Estonia, Georgia, Holland, Iraq, Italy, Kirgistan, Lithuania, Moldavia, Poland, Rumania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Tadjikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, USA and White Russia.
(Picture above: Presentation in one of the three working groups in the main hall)

A separate article will follow shortly dealing with organic agriculture in Georgia and the “Holidays on Organic Farms” programme run by Elkana.
(Picture on right: Mariam Jorjadze thanking all the voluntary assistants at the conference, in particular Elene Shatberashvili from Elkana and Susanne Krause from Organic Services.)

Documentation and information provided by the speakers at the conference will be available from next week at:

Tip: http://www.organiconference.elkana.org.ge