When international wheat prices started to rise in 2007, this bread-loving nation knew it was in trouble.

A small landlocked country in the Caucasus, the former Soviet republic of Armenia imports 60 to 70 percent of its wheat. Things went from bad to worse during the severe winter of 2007-2008, followed by hail and floods in some districts, which reduced the national winter wheat harvest from an average of about three tons per hectare to one ton per hectare, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The war in neighboring Georgia also had an impact on food and fuel supplies. Since Armenia's borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed, the country depends on the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti for most of its imported food and fuel. The railroad bridge over which most imported goods pass from Georgia to Armenia was destroyed in the fighting in 2008. As supplies must now be trucked from the end point of the damaged track in Georgia across the border and then reloaded on another train, deliveries have slowed and shipments are open to pilferage.

Rural families most vulnerable

The situation in Armenia is especially grave for many poor rural families, who grow wheat on plots of one or two hectares, mill the harvest into flour at the local mill and use the flour to bake bread for the family throughout the year. With locally grown potatoes, vegetables and fruit, and small welfare payments or pensions from the government, they can just survive. There are 340 000 smallholder farmers in this country of 3.2 million.

Life all over the country has been affected by soaring food prices, with staples such as macaroni increasing by 27 percent, pork by 35 percent and bakery bread by 40 percent, since 2006, according to official statistics.

In order to help Armenia's most vulnerable rural families, the government asked FAO to obtain and distribute good quality winter wheat seed to mitigate the negative effects of rising food and farm input prices. A Technical Cooperation Project worth US$500 000 was approved under FAO's Initiative on Soaring Food Prices, currently working in 90 countries. It paid for 645 tons of locally supplied high quality seed which were distributed to 4300 farm families last September in time for planting.
"This year we had a serious problem with seeds. We know high-quality seed is crucial, but farmers can't afford to buy it," says Gagik Manucharyan, Chief of the Crop Production, Forestry and Plant Protection Department in the Ministry of Agriculture. "I think this Technical Cooperation Project will attract additional funding for Armenian agriculture, for example, for quality potato seeds, and seeds for fodder, which are also expensive for the farmer."

As for the cost of food, "the consumers are cutting back on meat, milk and other foods. If it goes on much longer it is going to be a crisis," he adds.

What is needed

Across Armenia, communities speak of what is needed to make the farming sector productive once again.
“If we had enough money we would repair the pumping stations and gas lines for people's homes,” says Khoren Avetikyan, a farmer in Yelpin, southern Armenia. "The land here is very good. We supplied wheat seed to the whole country in Soviet times. The market is not the problem. Money is the problem."
The government has an Agricultural Sustainable Development Strategy with a detailed plan to re-launch agriculture. It states that only 10-15 percent of demand for investment is currently being satisfied through agricultural credit unions, traditional banks, credit clubs and micro-financial organizations. The strategy outlines what must be done in every area, from food safety to rural roads, from tax incentives for agriculture to animal health.

Mr Manucharyan sums up how he feels about the future of his small and remote country: “It would be best to produce all our own food.”

However, according to FAO Representative Fernanda Guerrieri, “There isn’t enough focus on agriculture by the government here. So advocating for agriculture is high on our agenda.”
FAO, which opened an office here four years ago, is helping Armenia in the difficult task of rebuilding its food and agriculture sector.

For example, Ms Guerrieri feels FAO’s broad expertise in water harvesting and drought-resistant crop varieties can provide practical, affordable solutions to water problems in this dry country.
The Organization is already helping Armenia combat outbreaks of livestock diseases such as brucellosis and African swine fever.

 “Donors like the European Commission, Greece and the United States are focused on rural development in Armenia and interested in supporting projects to do with food safety and animal diseases,” adds Ms Guerrieri. 

Submitted by: Peter Lowrey

Project: December 2008