YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS: United States Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, presided over the official opening of the office of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Caucasus Agribusiness Development Initiative (CADI), in Yerevan, Armenia. The FAS CADI project continues the work of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service of USDA.
With funding from the United States of America Freedom Support Act, FAS is implementing the Caucasus Agricultural Development Initiative that focuses on building regulatory capacity, supporting market-based agricultural policy and institutions, and promoting agribusiness development. In cooperation with the Armenian Government, the Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development and other local non-governmental organizations, the CADI-Armenia project assists farmers, agribusinesses and rural communities in producing, processing and marketing food and other farm-related products that will generate increased income for rural households and facilitate economic development of Armenia’s rural sectors by enhancing the quality of goods and services produced.
Officials present at the opening included, Davit Lokyan, Minister of Agriculture, Arshaluys Tarverdyan, Rector Armenian Agricultural Academy, Kimberly Svec, Senior Attache Moscow, USDA/FAS, Lawrence Barbieri, Team Leader USDA/CADI Washington, D.C., and Jeffrey Engels, Country Director, Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development.
Ambassador Evans mentioned that USDA has provided assistance to Armenia since 1996 developing 21 farmer associations, and 60 agribusiness clients. USDA has also partnered with the Armenian Agricultural State Agrarian University (ASAU) formerly know as the Armenian Agricultural Academy (AAA) and supported the Agribusiness Teaching Center (ATC), the Foundation of Applied Research and Agribusiness (FARA), and the Extension Development and Youth Program, modeled after the U.S. 4-H program, the Village Well Project and the Small Farm Water Management and Research Center.
An important focus of USDA CADI is to work with the Armenian Ministry of Agriculture to provide services to Armenian farmers and consumers by improving food safety systems, providing accurate and reliable information on agricultural production and prices and assistance in areas ranging from organic farming certification to farm credit.
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