Winning teams in Farmcraft® 2023 were just announced. This year, Farmcraft drew more than 8,500 participants from 59 countries! Farmcraft is an educational program that uses Minecraft to enhance the understanding of the challenges faced by agricultural producers and distributors around the world.

Farmcraft® 2023 focused on food trade and food security, asking the question “What happens to food once it leaves the farm?” In Farmcraft, participants experienced the choices that farmers must make before even planting their crops, thinking about which crops to grow, who will eat the crops, where the crops must be sent, and how to deliver those crops. Each team and student saw the outcome of their choices as they worked through issues of climate change and transportation challenges to grow and ship delicious produce to customers around the Farmcraft world.

Ethan Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs, Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, praised the students for competing, saying, “I hope you know that your work in Farmcraft is helping our countries and our world be a better place.”

Congratulations to the following winners:

Junior Division Winners (ages 8-13)

3rd place: 夢想藝文 (Dream Art) from Taiwan 

2nd place: LKESGF3 (Linkou Elementary School GF3) from Taiwan 

1st place: Athena from Taiwan 

Senior Division Winners (ages 13-18)

3rd place: team.KEIMEI from Japan 

2nd place: eBLAZE Air from Bangladesh 

1st place: eBLAZE fire from Bangladesh

All Ages Winners (all ages 8+)

3rd place: Green Savers from Nigeria 

2nd place: Formosa from Taiwan 

1st place: eBLAZE Water from Bangladesh

 In every category, the 1st Place team won a $500 Amazon gift card, 2nd Place team won a $250 Amazon gift card, and the 3rd Place team won a $200 Amazon gift card.

In addition, there was a raffle for all entrants who completed all challenges and submitted to the leaderboard. Winners were randomly selected from each region and won a $50 Amazon gift card.

Team Dynamite from Nigeria

• Team Waxed Lightly Weathered Cut Copper Stairs from the United States
• Team Demeter from Taiwan
• Team CEVAO K-A from Venezuela 
• Team the Fab Falcons from the United States
• Team CEVAO T-C from Venezuela
• Team Ace from Nigeria
• Team Cookies from the United States
• Team CatCan from Taiwan
• Team Netherite Hoes from Uruguay
• Team BANDUNG BONDOWOSO from Indonesia
• Team Minecraft from Nigeria

 Watch the full announcement livestream on the NASEF YouTube. 

Throughout the season, special guests and experts in agriculture and transportation joined livestreams to share their insights. Many streams also featured student guests from around the world. NASEF’s Chief Marketing Officer Claire LaBeaux hosted. Thank you to following people for adding your knowledge and enthusiasm to the Farmcraft experience:

• Cary Fowler, Special Envoy for Global Food Security, U.S. Department of State
• Ethan Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs, Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs
• Tony Fernandes, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Trade Policy & Negotiations, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Paul Harrison, Director, Office of Agricultural Policy, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Simone Passarelli, Policy Advisor, Office of Global Food Security, U.S. Department of State
• Joseph Forcherio, Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of Global Food Security, U.S. Department of State
• Lauren Allognon, Data, Analytics and Technology Manager with Tetra Tech
• Heather Zwald, CEO of Zwald Transport, Inc.
• John Leslie, Jefferson Science Fellow at U.S. Department of State
• Bob Bowden, Plant Pathologist
• Brian Dickman, Founder of Cleverlike Studios
• Erik Leitner, Program Director for Cleverlike Studios
• Lynne Scheib, U.S. Department of State and American Spaces Coordinator
• Niles Cole, U.S. Department of State

Student Guests included:

• American Corner Ikeja in Lagos Nigeria: Mobolurin, Maryam, Vincent, Mofe
• Rialto High School in CA: Marcos, Ninel, Juan, Jesus, Kael
• Eastside Esports League: Shae
• Hannibal Public School District in MO: Team KAIN, students Kaylin, Ava, Ivy, Natalie

For a summary of all livestreams, check out this End of Season wrapup video. You can access all the livestreams and challenge overview in the Farmcraft 2023 playlist.

NASEF, the U.S. Department of State, and its American Spaces program, congratulate all participants in this year’s event. We’re already discussing plans for the next season, so be sure to sign up for the NASEF newsletter to get announcements of this and other exciting programs.