Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

UNDP, Eduardo Eurnekian, Team-Up to Spur Agro-Devel. in 4 Villages

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • UNDP, Eduardo Eurnekian, Team-Up to Spur Agro-Devel. in 4 Villages

    UNDP, Eduardo Eurnekian, Team-Up to Spur Agro-Development in 4 Villages

    hetq
    13:46, May 12, 2012

    The level of human deprivation in rural communities of Armenia is
    higher than in urban areas mainly due to the lack of access to
    economic opportunities and poor quality of public services, such as
    healthcare, education and social protection.

    UNDP's experience worldwide and in Armenia over the past 20 years
    suggests that poverty is a complex and multidimensional phenomena,
    which is context specific and addressing it requires concerted and
    comprehensive efforts across all levels of government and all sectors
    of economy. A home grown and effective approach that was spearheaded
    by UNDP in an attempt to improve people's wellbeing and lift them from
    poverty is the Integrated Community Development approach.

    Communities' needs, challenges and development opportunities are best
    addressed when the intervention is holistic, focusing on the three
    pillars of sustainable development (e.g. social, economic and
    environmental) and fostering decentralization, good local governance
    and democracy.

    Agricultural activities are the main source of employment and income
    generation for the residents of Baghramyan, Arevadasht, Artamet and
    Myasnikyan rural communities of Baghramyan sub-region (hereinafter,
    micro-region) in Armavir region. The poor conditions of the irrigation
    and water supply networks, the lack of agricultural equipment and the
    obsolete machinery, as well as the lack of knowledge about new
    agricultural technologies are the underlying reasons behind the low
    level of agricultural productivity and high level of poverty in the
    micro-region.

    During the recent years large-scale investments have been made by
    Fruitfull Armenia in this region in the fields of vineyards-grapes
    growing, including orchards for vegetables and fruits, water
    reservoirs, drip irrigation and modern cultivation methods, which,
    overall, positively impacted on the socio-economic growth in the
    micro-region.

    Capitalizing on the successful past experience of UNDP and the
    Fruitful Armenia in local development, taking stock of the tangible
    results achieved and recognizing the power of partnerships for
    advancing sustainable development agenda, today Ms. Dafina Gercheva,
    UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia, and
    Mr. Eduardo Eurnekian, a prominent Argentinean-Armenian businessman,
    signed an agreement to support agricultural and micro-business
    activities in Baghramyan, Arevadasht, Artamet and Myasnikyan
    communities. This partnership is aiming at promoting the economic
    revitalization of the micro-region and improving the living standards
    of the population. The parties firmly believe that the shared value is
    the foundation of a real partnership!

    `UNDP's best practices and experience across the world suggest that
    promoting sustainable development requires an integrated approach
    which targets social, economic and environmental pillars of
    development. We are well positioned to proceed rapidly with the
    implementation of integrated development in these communities, as it
    has helped to rehabilitate social and economic infrastructure and
    generate sustainable income in more than 150 rural and urban
    communities across the country. This approach involves several
    communities working together in a cluster, and focusing on the
    holistic approach to development, i.e. infrastructure rehabilitation,
    income generation, institutional capacity development, good
    governance, and environmental protection,' said Dafina Gercheva, UN
    RC/UNDP RR.

    Within the framework of `Armenian Village Revival: A Drive for
    Employment and Income Generation' project, UNDP Armenia aims to create
    farmers' associations, improve the economic rural infrastructure as a
    key element for rural poverty alleviation, establish micro food
    processing facilities, and return of non-cultivated arable land into
    the sowing cycle through distribution and planting of quality seeds
    and seedlings.

    Based on the participatory planning approach, UNDP Armenia will
    support the four communities to develop their Strategic Community
    Development Plans - a tool to prioritize local community needs.
    Moreover, an environmental impact assessment will be conducted in the
    region to gauge the situation and prevent from environmental damages
    that agricultural and agro-processing activities may cause.

    The total cost of the project is USD 230,000 from which Fruitfull
    Armenia's share is USD 204,000.




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X