Standing on a small, wooden watchtower in the middle of the Alazani Valley, surrounded by the Caucasus Mountains on one side and endless fields on the other, Shota Begiashvili recalls the nights he has spent here alone, ever since he was 10, “watching the cows.’’
Growing up as a farmer’s son, Shota began his farmer’s life early. He loved to walk behind the cattle into the pastures of Alazani Valley in Kakheti, eastern Georgia.
Now a 31-year-old, Begiashvili is himself a successful farmer.
In the last three years, his cattle grew more than five times, and its milk production increased from 500 litres to 1.5 tons a day. He trades dairy to one of Georgia’s largest dairy product companies, and he is planning on more, particularly since the arrival of a recently purchased brand-new milking parlour facility.
With grants from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the American venture Land O’Lakes Venture37, three years ago, Begiashvili purchased 100 high-producing cows and developed a larger holding facility. He also purchased farming equipment with the help of the EU and FAO project. Now, one of the latest machines in this sector, the ‘no contact’ milking parlor, will take the farm to the next level: along with doubling productivity, the automated technology will reduce infection risks and ensure the milk’s high hygienic standards.
This journey would not have been possible without the identification and registration of all Shota’s cattle, and that is exactly where the new opportunities for the farmer kicked off.
The National Animal Identification and Traceability System project was the first to bring novelties to the 30-year-old farm of the Begiashvili family. Without registering his animals, Shota, along with other farmers, would not have been able to access any of the grants from Land O’Lakes, FAO, other donors, funders, or banks.
“When I wanted to get financial support from Land O’Lakes to buy a new cow breed, I needed to prove that I already owned cattle. So, I applied to the National Food Agency and requested the relevant information. Right after getting the grant and bringing the new cattle to the farm, I registered them, too. Identification and registration also help me to run the farm properly, ensure traceability of products, and control preventive and other actions related to my animals’ health,” Shota recalled.
The National Animal Identification and Traceability System (NAITS) collects and records information on mandatorily identifiable animals or groups of animals, their keepers, and farm locations all around Georgia. The project has been implemented over the past five years by Georgia’s National Food Agency and the FAO NAITS project, with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC).
NAITS collects the data of animals or groups of animals, including information on their birth, origin, gender, color, and health. It aims to ensure the traceability of animal origin products, from farm to fork.
The project plans to fully replace the paper forms traditionally used in Georgia with an electronic system. 22 modules of NAITS are already operational. They bring together about 900 system users, among them NFA-contracted field and slaughterhouse veterinarians, NFA inspectors, government institutions, animal holdings, and other parties.
Shota Begiashvili is one of them.
While initially, it seemed only a compulsory step for funding opportunities, later, Shota realized that being part of the NAITS system was actually helping his farm. For example, the tags on the cattle’s ears that show the animals’ registration number became an essential part of daily farming operations, Shota says. Registration of the cattle also helps his team control the animals’ health and even the financial matters of the facility.
“When they are vaccinated, when they are fertilized, what medicines they are given – each animal has their own history and it needs to be controlled in detail. We can’t remember all these details, so we keep the history in the journal. Without tagging, it would be impossible to classify all this information,” Shota notes.
Begiashvili’s farm of the Red Estonian and Holstein breed is now run by 12 people, including Shota’s mother, Tamar, who is responsible for milking the cows, and his father, Vepkhvia, who started this family farm.
“Shota is a grantee of our project SQIL, which Land O’Lakes Venture37 has been implementing in partnership with the Georgian Farmers’ Association, with the financial support of USDA,” says Levan Tetvadze, a specialist at SQIL. “Our goal is to improve food and safety standards in local farming and make them more productive and competitive. SQIL’s co-financing grants are focused on strengthening local entrepreneurs in the dairy and meat sector. If farmers want to apply for grants, they have to have their domestic animals identified and registered. They need this to prove that they officially own them.”
‘’While NAITS is an important player in the food safety chain, we saw that it can also play a very important role for farmers’ financial success,” says Mikheil Sokhadze, NAITS project leader. “The identification and registration of animals have helped animal keepers to effectively systemize and manage their farms. And we’re very happy that it has paved a way for many of them towards financial opportunities, financial support, be it grants or loans, to increase their businesses and provide better care for their animals, and to produce more and safer products for consumers.”
The second phase of NAITS started in April 2022. It will continue providing technical assistance for the rollout of NAITS among stakeholders- state agencies, farmers, the commercial sector, and consumers.
“Sometimes, when I enter the farm, I can tell if the cows are in a bad mood, or if their eyes have changed,” Shota says, walking between the cattle rows in the farm facility. As he approaches, the large white, black, and brown cows compete to be the first to reach his hands and touch them with their muzzles. They seem fond of him.
“And if we feel something is wrong,” Shota continues, “we call the vet, but also take action immediately because every minute counts. This is a job where you have to spend a lot of time, every day, with the animals, and you have to love them.”
