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ARMENIA: TONS OF CROPS WASTED DUE TO UNSCRUPULOUS MIDDLEMEN
FreshPlaza, Netherlands
June 24 2014
Tons of crops grown in Armenia's villages are thrown out every year
because the middlemen sell them at double to triple the price in
Yerevan's markets, says head of the central Armenian town of Aramus,
Hrayr Nikoghosyan.
The middlemen in Armenia's produce market purchase carrots from
villagers at 100 drams (about $0.24 USD) per kilo but sell them to
consumers for 250-300 drams ($0.60-0.73), claims Nikoghosyan. Angrily
he explains that middlemen in Yerevan don't even know whether carrots
are grown on trees or in the ground; however, they're the ones who
make the profits.
"No such revenue exists in the world. There is [such a thing as]
market value: you buy [it] for 100 drams, sell it for 120 drams
[$0.28]. Brother, have a profit of 20%. In that case, the buyer will
buy not half a kilo, but 1-2 kilos. The value of the villager's output
will increase automatically," he argues.
Nikoghosyan lists villagers' expenses in growing carrots (land tax,
water bills), but the annual income for a single family does not
exceed 600,000 AMD ($1,465) for 6 tons of carrots produced. Middlemen,
on the other hand, only have to pay for their market stall, selling
the produce they purchased at 100 AMD per kilo for at least 300 AMD/kg.
At one time, four buses would take people from the village to Yerevan
to sell their harvest, but now there are no buses. In Nikoghosyan's
opinion, the farmers' markets that, according to Armenia's minister
of agriculture, shouldn't leave anyone "poor" in the village, are just
for show. "[Only] one or two Aramus inhabitants can make use of them,"
he said. "There was a person in the village who had 6 tons of harvest,
[but] he couldn't sell half of it. It was ruined; he threw it out."
According to Nikoghosyan, the younger generations don't want to
continue harvesting the arable land provided to their families when
they gained land ownership in newly independent Armenia. A three-member
family was given one plot of 630 square meters of land; a four-member
family, 2 plots; six-member family, 3 plots; and so on.
However, if the land is not providing income, it's not in demand,
he explains.
FreshPlaza, Netherlands
June 24 2014
Tons of crops grown in Armenia's villages are thrown out every year
because the middlemen sell them at double to triple the price in
Yerevan's markets, says head of the central Armenian town of Aramus,
Hrayr Nikoghosyan.
The middlemen in Armenia's produce market purchase carrots from
villagers at 100 drams (about $0.24 USD) per kilo but sell them to
consumers for 250-300 drams ($0.60-0.73), claims Nikoghosyan. Angrily
he explains that middlemen in Yerevan don't even know whether carrots
are grown on trees or in the ground; however, they're the ones who
make the profits.
"No such revenue exists in the world. There is [such a thing as]
market value: you buy [it] for 100 drams, sell it for 120 drams
[$0.28]. Brother, have a profit of 20%. In that case, the buyer will
buy not half a kilo, but 1-2 kilos. The value of the villager's output
will increase automatically," he argues.
Nikoghosyan lists villagers' expenses in growing carrots (land tax,
water bills), but the annual income for a single family does not
exceed 600,000 AMD ($1,465) for 6 tons of carrots produced. Middlemen,
on the other hand, only have to pay for their market stall, selling
the produce they purchased at 100 AMD per kilo for at least 300 AMD/kg.
At one time, four buses would take people from the village to Yerevan
to sell their harvest, but now there are no buses. In Nikoghosyan's
opinion, the farmers' markets that, according to Armenia's minister
of agriculture, shouldn't leave anyone "poor" in the village, are just
for show. "[Only] one or two Aramus inhabitants can make use of them,"
he said. "There was a person in the village who had 6 tons of harvest,
[but] he couldn't sell half of it. It was ruined; he threw it out."
According to Nikoghosyan, the younger generations don't want to
continue harvesting the arable land provided to their families when
they gained land ownership in newly independent Armenia. A three-member
family was given one plot of 630 square meters of land; a four-member
family, 2 plots; six-member family, 3 plots; and so on.
However, if the land is not providing income, it's not in demand,
he explains.