NGO head urges the government to build up emergency food supply

YEREVAN, October 16. / ARKA /. Citing Armenia’s geopolitical location and the mounting tension around Iran, Armenia’s southern neighbor providing it with one of the two conduits to the outer world, the chairwoman of a non-governmental organization protecting consumers rights urged the authorities to take quick action to build up emergency food supply.

Speaking at a news conference on the occasion of World Food Day, Melita Hakobyan, head of the National Consumers Association, said in terms of some domestically-produced food types Armenia is a self-sufficient country, ‘’nonetheless we are not yet able to be fully self-sufficient,.’ She said the country imports largely bakery, confectionery and meat products. 

Frunze Haytyan, head of marketing and monitoring division of the National Consumers Association, said the NGO has been conducting regular monitoring of the local food market for the last ten years. He said the latest study conducted this past September that embraced 400 food stores in Yerevan and outside it revealed that 95 percent of bakery products, as much of dairy and 92% of meat products are domestically produced. Haytyan also said that some 70 percent of poultry meat, 65 percent of natural juices and 98 percent of soft drinks are also Armenia-made.

According to the monitoring, 65-70% of alcoholic beverages are also domestically produced and 20 percent of imported drinks are high quality drinks made in Russia. He said these numbers are stable.

The World Food Day, celebrated annually on October 16, was proclaimed in 1979, when UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was founded in 1945. Its mission is to eradicate hunger and create conditions for sustainable development of agriculture.-0-