Tbilisi, March 13, 2024 – The launch event of the new EU-funded project “Civil Society Actors as Levers for a Sustainable Food System in Georgia” was held at Stamba Hotel.
In a significant stride towards combating food loss and waste and enhancing food security in Georgia, People in Need (PIN) Georgia, along with the European Union (EU), Czech Development Agency (CzDA) and key partners, celebrated the project’s launch. The event gathered representatives from various governmental, non-governmental and international organisations, as well as the private sector.
Ms. Sofia Janjua, serving as the Country Director of PIN Georgia, opened the event with a welcome speech, underlining the project’s importance and its capacity to bring about meaningful transformation. Mr. Catalin Gherman, Deputy Head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, representatives of the Czech Development Agency, government officials, and delegates from FAO and the European Food Banks Federation (FEBA) contributed their perspectives, underscoring the significance of establishing Georgia’s first Food Bank as a sustainable initiative for ensuring food security and addressing the challenges of food loss and waste prevention.
The EU-funded project will pilot a food bank initiative to address local food insecurity by redistributing unsold food items and will test the impact of the new Law on Food Loss and Waste Reduction, Food Recovery and Redistribution. It aims to reduce food waste, farm losses, and greenhouse gas emissions, lowering food insecurity. Awareness-raising campaigns on food waste and loss will be conducted at the community level.
The keynote speakers also included Ms. Khatia Tsilosani – First Deputy Chairperson of the Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Georgian Parliament, Mr. Kakha Kakabadze – Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture; Mr. Jumber Maruashvili – Senior Policy Advisor at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, Mr. Balazs Cseh – European Food Banks Federation (FEBA).
This initiative, which runs from 2023 to 2026, draws on PIN’s and the Red Cross movement’s global expertise in food security, waste management, and climate change mitigation. Additionally, the EU-supported project aims to empower local civil society actors to facilitate the identification of food-insecure individuals, the provision of food to vulnerable populations, cooperation with local farmers, and running awareness campaigns on food waste and food losses.
The EU and CzDA-funded project “Civil Society Actors as Levers for a Sustainable Food System in Georgia” is implemented in collaboration with the Georgia Red Cross (GRC), Parki ar Minda (PAM), and Eliots Sustainability, aimed to empower civil society actors to tackle the pressing issues of food waste and insecurity, with a specific focus on the Tskaltubo municipality.
