Veterinary technician Shorena Jambazishvili uploads the data of vaccinated animals to the national animal identification and traceability system in Georgia, which has been implemented with the technical assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (©FAO/David Khelashvili)
SACHKHERE, Georgia — In February, when the streets of Sachkhere, Georgia are blanketed in snow and outside temperatures hit -2 degrees Celsius, 39-year-old Shorena Jambazishvili gathers her plastic gloves, new syringes, some medication and a smartphone and takes them away to the farm.
It’s early morning and it’s time for the first round of vaccinations. As a veterinary technician, Shorena works with the veterinarian to vaccinate all cows in the community and then digitize the information.
In the team of two, she is responsible for entering all data into Georgia’s online Animal Identification and Traceability System (NAITS), which has revolutionized the country’s animal traceability system over the past five years. NAITS is implemented by the Government of Georgia with technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and collects the data of all legally registered livestock, their owners and places of husbandry.
Prompt and timely tracing of animals and products of animal origin by NAITS is an integral part of the food safety chain. By registering and verifying the origin and health of animals at every step of the value chain, NAITS ensures the delivery of safe food from farm to fork.
Birth, origin, vaccination status, state of health and even the color of the animals can now be easily researched online. The information helps shoppers make informed, healthy choices when choosing meat and other animal-based products. For example, customers can find QR codes on the product that link to NAITS where they can look up the provenance, age, and other basic information about the product they want to buy.
Currently, NAITS has information on more than one million cattle, thanks in large part to the veterinarians and technicians who are the pillars of the project and work on-site to collect and record the data.
“In vaccination season, you can’t miss the day and dose, so we go to the farms early in the morning and late at night every day,” Shorena says.
With a syringe in one hand and a smartphone in the other, she walks over the line of a few hundred cows, some mooing in greeting while others awkwardly rub their foreheads against the wooden fence to scratch their huge heads.
She selects the cattle ready for vaccination and says with a smile, “However, my family members find it difficult to let me out of the house so often… because they are not used to it.”
Vets vaccinate the animals and digitize the information as part of Georgia’s NAITS traceability system, implemented with the help of FAO. (©FAO/David Khelashvili)
A new job
Three years ago, Shorena decided to change her routine as a housewife and learn a new profession. She decided to train as a state-certified veterinary technician.
Shorena and her husband Arsen, who is also a veterinarian, have two children: Otar, 15, and Mariam, 13. Shorena recalls that some changes in family routines were challenging for Otar and Mariam because they were used to seeing their mother always to have the time. However, their new job promised them other benefits.
“Obviously my financial situation has improved,” Shorena explained, adding, “But more importantly, I’m learning from this experience. Every day I discover something new. I am studying veterinary science, various animal diseases, and it is growing me.”
“The more education a woman gets, the more independent she is… Independence is key,” she says.
In addition, this new training was also fun. Shorena and her colleagues particularly enjoyed working with technologies such as computers, tablets and smartphones.
“We collect and digitize information including the cattle owner’s identification number, farm name and other information – we fill in the data with the cows’ tag numbers. Then we add the information about vaccines,” Shorena explains excitedly, emphasizing that the technology part of her job was particularly interesting.
This opportunity was also transformative for Shorena’s colleague Tea Kvatadze, another female veterinary technician in Sachkhere:
“We found it easy to deal with new technologies and … brought us professional development. She [the new technologies] to let our work look into the future compared to the times when we did the same thing with papers,” Tea said, adding, “It changed my life. The job is more fun when you love what you do.”
In 2022, 10,798 animals were recorded in the community of Sachkhere with the help of Shorena, Tea and their colleagues. Marina Macharashvili, Regional Senior Inspector at the National Food Agency in Imereti, western Georgia, explained: “They work very actively; it’s hard work, don’t want to sound biased; However, I would like to mention that the women learned the computer particularly quickly in order to surf through the NAITS with smartphones.”
Shorena Jambazishvili became a veterinary technician three years ago and firmly believes that the more education a woman gets, the more independent she is. (©FAO/David Khelashvili)
The national traceability system
Local farmer Ramaz Mghebrishvili, who runs a large farm with more than a hundred cows, highlights how the veterinarians and technicians behind NAITS have made farmers’ lives easier:
“I’m grateful that the vets and technicians are by our side when needed… Now if you lose the cow in the mountains it’s not a big deal because you know the tag number and you can easily find it,” Ramaz said.
With the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Austrian Development Cooperation, FAO and the National Food Authority of Georgia implemented this traceability project, making Georgia the first country in the region to introduce an animal identification and registration system.
Several states, including North Macedonia, Albania, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Caribbean countries, have expressed interest in exchanging experiences on electronic systems or systems development. Disseminating NAITS best practices and sharing experiences will be beneficial to both Georgia and the countries that are now implementing animal registration systems.
Meanwhile, the vets do their job with dedication and passion, making sure that customers can make informed choices at the end and that animal-based food is safer for everyone.
-Food and Agriculture Organization
