MoE reports on results of World Bank`s CARMAC2 program

ArmInfo. The prospects for cooperation in areas consonant with the policy pursued in the field of agriculture in Armenia were discussed at the Ministry of Economy  of Armenia, with the participation of the World Bank delegation  headed by director of the World Bank (WB) Office in Armenia Carolyn  Geginat.

According to the press service of the economic department, issues of  food security, increasing the productivity of the agricultural  sector, the use of state assistance tools, resolving logistical  problems, efficient organization of exports and diversification of  export markets were also touched upon.

One of the main topics of discussion was the result of the CARMAC2  program implemented since 2015 with the assistance of the WB in  Armenia (II program of "Agricultural Resource Management and  Community Competitiveness").

According to the head of the program David Mejlumyan, as a result of  the implementation of the program, consumer cooperatives were founded  in 109 communities of 8 regions of Armenia, uniting pasture users, in  which 10,600 farms are involved. Under this program, irrigation  networks with a length of 250 km were built in 95 communities on  pastures and 235 places to provide drinking water for cattle. 1000  units of agricultural machinery were provided to cooperatives. In  addition, 3,500 members of cooperatives were trained in a number of  agricultural areas.

David Mejlumyan said that as a result of the work carried out, roads  leading to pastures were also improved, and about 130 thousand  hectares of unused or underused pastures were irrigated.

It should be noted that according to the Ministry of Economy, the  total cost of the CARMAC2 program is $42.67 million, of which $9.67  million is a loan from the International Development Association  (IDA), $23 million is IBRD borrowing, $2.275 million is government  co-financing and $7.725 million - beneficiaries. The main objectives  of the program are to improve pastures, increase the productivity of  livestock systems, increase the level of sustainable development of  communities, and increase the volume of produced and exported  products.