Stakeholder Conference of the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) Programme was Held

2015-10-14

Today the second stakeholder conference of the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) Programme was held in Yerevan with the participation of Sergo Karapetyan, the RA Minister of Agriculture, Piotr Swetalski, Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation in Armenia, John Barker, International Aid/Cooperation Officer of the EU Delegation in Armenia and other officials.

The purpose of the event was to present and discuss the most recent developments and achievements of the Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, progress in implementation of the ENPARD Programme, as well as donor coordination mechanisms.

The three-year Programme which was launched in January, 2015 is implemented by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Industrial Development Organization and the UN Development Agency, with co-financing provided by the European Union and the Australian Development Agency.

The Programme aims to assist the establishment of agricultural cooperatives, improve the quality of agricultural services, pilot new techniques of fighting against natural disasters.

“The establishment of cooperatives is the future of the Armenian agriculture sector, therefore it is a priority for our Ministry. Our goal is to create favourable conditions for the development of cooperatives in Armenia and the launching project aims to contribute to the establishment of farmer unions along with triggering the creation of agricultural cooperatives”, the Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan said in his speech.

In their presentations representatives of complementary supporters of the ENPARD Programme, i.e. the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) reported about the activities carried out during the reporting period towards the development of cooperatives, fight against natural disasters, improvement of the quality of advice and several other issues.

Special emphasis was placed on the Producer Group and Value Chain Development component to be implemented in Shirak, Lori, Gegharkunik, Aragatsotn, Kotayk and Vayots Dzor regions. In particular, it was stated that 190 applications had been received as part of the component which were now in the process of review. The Programme gives preference to groups proposing innovative ideas (new technologies, new products) in the areas of production and processing of fruits, vegetables, wheat and nuts, milk and milk products, as well as agricultural products.

At the conference the project design for coordination of foreign financial was presented by the RA Ministry of Agriculture which aims to increase the targeted nature, transparency, effectiveness and accessibility of the jointly implemented programs.

Division of Information and Public Relations of

the RA Ministry of Agriculture