On November 13-14, 2019, the beekeeper of Keda municipality participated in training “Production of safe honey”. The training aimed to raise awareness of the participants about the sources of honey pollution, the ways to prevent them and the production / processing / sale of harmless honey.
Within the training the following tasks were discussed: food safety official control system and food business operator’s responsibility; hazards in honey and public health; legal requirements for primary production /processing/distribution stages and good agriculture practice; GMP, GHP and HACCP system. There were discussed requirements for honey labelling and technical regulation to fulfil the conditions for honey market placing.
At present, honey production in Georgia is exposed to various dangers of pollution. The source of pollution can be both the environment and the beekeeper himself. The presence of environmental pollutants found in air, water, soil and plants poses a threat to the production of honey, as the bees can transfer these pesticides in the beehives and later in honey as well.
To the extent law, the business operator is himself responsible for the production/processing/ distribution of harmless honey. With the participating in the training the beekeepers and honey producers raised awareness and improved new skills about honey production pollution, the ways of preventing them and the production/processing/ sale of harmless honey.
The training, carried out under the EU’s ENPARD project Keda LEADER, was organized by CENN and aimed capacity building and improvement knowledge and skills of beekeepers.
22 participants, the members of “Adjara beekeeping business association” and the farmers participated in the training.
The EU-supported ENPARD project is implemented by CENN in partnership with the Centre for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), Institute of Democracy (IoD) and the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (ÖIR). The project aims to diversify local economic activities, improve the investment climate, and empower competitive agricultural and environmental practices in Keda Municipality via bottom-up strategic planning in rural development.
The EU is supporting agriculture and rural development in Georgia through its ENPARD Programme. Implemented since 2013 with a total budget of EUR 179.5 million, the main goal of ENPARD is to reduce rural poverty in Georgia. The first phase of ENPARD in Georgia focused on developing the potential of agriculture. The second and third phases of ENPARD focus on creating economic opportunities for rural populations that go beyond agricultural activities. More information on ENPARD is available at: www.enpard.ge.
