Agricultural alliance established in Armenia
YEREVAN, December 6. /ARKA/. Armenia’s agricultural companies and international organizations signed a memorandum on Tuesday to establish an agricultural alliance.
The alliance was established on the initiative of British Oxfam’s Armenian office and UNDP.
The memorandum was signed by representatives of the UNDP and Oxfam’s Armenian offices, the Fund for Development of Villages and Agricultural Businesses, United Methodist Committee on Relief organization (UMCOR), Business Support Center, ACDI/VOCA (Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance), Armenian Agriculture Ministry’s scientific center for vegetable and industrial crops, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Horizon Foundation, VISTAA Plus, C.O.A.F. (The Children of Armenia Fund), Consumers’ Rights Protection Organization and International Center for Studies on Agricultural Business and Education.
Margarita Hakobyan, director of Oxfam’s Armenian Office, said the aim of the alliance is to contribute to solution of problems in the country’s agriculture by running joint promotion campaigns and exchanging information and experience.
“We have decided to create this agricultural alliance to enhance effectiveness of the usage of the country’s agricultural resources, to improve conditions of economic entities’ activities, to fill a want of professional knowledge in agriculture, to improve consulting system and provision and exchange of appropriate information,” she told journalists before the signing ceremony.
Hakobyan also said that the necessity of investment of greater financial resources for spurring production of local agricultural products was pointed out in this memorandum as well.
She stressed that the newly established alliance will put a special emphasis on enhancement of availability of new technologies, integration of border areas into free economic zones and introduction of insurance system for lessening calamity-caused risks.
Besides, taking into account imperfectness of seed growing and livestock breeding in Armenia and the necessity of creation of effective mechanisms for improving things here, the alliance will pay special attention to extension of loans to many farms and provision of affordable leasing to them.
“The alliance’s member organizations will regularly discuss the activity program,” she added. Dafina Gercheva, Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia, said Armenia’s agriculture has many problems today.
She said that land plots are small, and they are scattered. Gercheva said Armenian farmers’ professional skills are insufficient.
She also singled out the lack of up-to-date equipment and limited access of farmers to agricultural markets as well as imperfect mechanisms of lending to farms among Armenia’s agriculture’s biggest troubles.
Although the national economy has regained momentum, she said, the government still needs international community’s support.
Gercheva is convinced that these problems can be solved by joint efforts. She expressed hope that the establishment of the alliance will produce results soon.
Armenian Deputy Agriculture Minister Robert Makaryan, on his side, said the country’s agriculture was in need of such an alliance now more than ever.
“The government announced agriculture the national economy’s top-priority sector in 2011, and only governmental support alone can’t be effective,” he said. “I hail establishment of this alliance, especially taking into account that its members are those organizations which have already proved efficiency.”
The alliance will be open for cooperation – all the concerned organizations can join it.-0--
