Students in 68 Countries Joined; Top Teams Are From Bangladesh, Botswana, Honduras, Indonesia, and Japan

Winning teams were just announced in the NASEF Farmcraft™ 2022 program, which offered an engaging Minecraft experience where students learned about agriculture, food sustainability, and how climate change impacts farming. This free educational program was presented to youth around the world by the U.S. Department of State and the North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF).

Students from 68 countries joined the event, a free science-based esports competition open to teams in grades 3-12. As part of public diplomacy programming, in cooperation with U.S. embassies and consulates, schools around the world created teams and completed in-game farming challenges, learning about the role of innovative technologies in achieving environmental, climate, and food security goals.

The winning teams are:

Junior Division, ages 8-13

1st Place - The Sundaneesse; Location: Indonesia; Adult Sponsor: Eko Setiawan

2nd Place - Sunshine Cyberhawks; Location: Honduras; Adult Sponsor: Jose Caceres

3rd Place - Sunshine Hawks Masterminds; Location: Honduras; Adult Sponsor: Jose Caceres

Senior Division, Ages 13 - 18

1st Place - Eblaze Fire; Location: Bangladesh; Adult Sponsor: Ishtiaq Ahmed

2nd Place - Eblaze Air; Location: Bangladesh; Adult Sponsor: Ishtiaq Ahmed

3rd Place - Zangyo Samurai Company; Location: Japan; Adult Sponsor: Satomi Itagaki

All Ages division, ages 8 and up

Winner - Eblaze Earth; Location: Bangladesh; Adult Sponsor: Md Ashfaqur Rahman

Runner Up - #Blue Blazes; Location: Botswana; Adult Sponsor: Ibironke Osunbawo

During the livestream announcing the winners, students in the chat shared their excitement. One said, “It is 10pm in South Africa. I've been waiting all day. It's been a lot of fun and [I can’t] wait to hear the results. Thank You NASEF.” Another exclaimed, “2:16 am here in Bangladesh!” A minute later, another chimed in, “2:17 am here. The excitement kept me awake!”

Many offered appreciation for the game. One said, “Thanks for offering this NASEF, we loved participating!” Another posted, “Thank u for the awesome competition NASEF. It was a really eye-opening experience and we learned a lot.”

Underscoring the learning nature of the competition, one adult sponsor of several winning teams said, “Couldn't be more proud of my students. EBlaze takes the throne. ❤” and a student replied, “What are they doing in Bangladesh? They can give us some pointers.” Another said the developer “Cleverlike Studios deserves a big applause. It was fun figuring out the game mechanics!”

Before the livestream, a student submitted the following input to NASEF: ““I got better at telling my teammates what exactly I want to do in the game. Our mutual understanding has also improved a lot. We trust each other more. Some of us are much better at reading and speaking in English. Thanks to the video presentation we had to make, we also sharpened our skills in video editing.”

Educators had access to the custom Farmcraft world, lesson plans, and livestreams—many built competitive teams, and others wove this into daily lessons and didn’t enter the competition aspect of the event. Every student who participated enjoyed the blend of play and learning. They developed “soft” STEM skills like teamwork, persistence, presentation skills, and more.

NASEF thanks many partners who made Farmcraft 2022 a positive play and learning experience for all! This includes:

• U.S. Department of State, particularly Adam Cornish and Lynne Scheib
• Game developer Cleverlike Studios, led by Brian Dickman
• Global Minecraft Mentors Erik Leitner and Cathy Cheo-Isaacs
• Food for Thought Experts
  • Julian Reyes
  • Michel Cavigelli
  • Clayton Myers
  • Tracy Powell
  • Steven Mirsky
  • Brian Cleverlike

View all the livestreams on the YouTube playlist.

About the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ (ECA) mission is to build relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through academic, cultural, sports, professional and private exchanges, as well as public-private partnerships and mentoring programs. These exchange programs improve foreign relations and strengthen the national security of the United States. ECA programs, funding, and other activities encourage the involvement of American and international participants from traditionally underrepresented groups, including women, racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities. Artists, educators, athletes, students, youth and rising leaders in the United States and more than 160 countries around the globe participate in academic, cultural, sports, and professional exchanges. For more information about ECA programs, initiatives, and achievements, visit eca.state.gov.

About NASEF

The North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) is on a mission to provide opportunities for all students to use esports as a platform to acquire STEM/STEAM-based skills and critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life. NASEF operates under the umbrella of the World Wide Scholastic Esports Foundation (WWSEF). Find NASEF at NASEF.org and on Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram