About Us
The Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia with the current structure was formed as a result of the unification of the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia according to the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Amending and Adding to the Law “On the Structure and Activities of the Government” adopted by the RA National Assembly on May 8 2008 (signed by the President of the Republic of Armenia on May 16, 2019, No-31-N).
The Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia includes 13 main professional structural divisions, 10 supporting structural divisions, 4 offices and 1 subordinate body.
Currently, the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia is governed by the Minister of Economy. The Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia is Gevorg Papoyan. The Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia is a central Body of executive authority that develops the Government’s economic policy in the spheres under its jurisdiction. The Ministry is responsible for implementing and assessing the results of economic policy. The Ministry develops and implements projects relating to the spheres of agroprovision, intergovernmental cooperation in the field of agriculture, forestry, plant-growing, cattle-raising, irrigation and projects increasing the productivity of soil usage, as well. The Ministry carries out its activities under the RA Legislation and other legal acts.
For more information, please visit www.mineconomy.am
CAS SNCO
Under article 13 of the Law of Republic of Armenia on “State Non-Commercial organizations” the Government of the Republic of Armenia decided to rename “Agrochemical Service”
Non-commercial organization into “Agricultural Services center” state Non-commercial organization, which performs the following functions: animal registration, veterinary medicine, phytosanitary, and agrochemistry.
For more information, please visit www.cas.am
Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development (CARD) Foundation was established in 2005 and is the successor of USDA MAP project. Tight cooperation with USDA and vast expertise transferred by US experts has accumulated a notable know-how in house and laid a firm foundation for quality provision and successful project implementation. In fact, having high success rate in project implementation CARD Foundation has diversified its donor portfolio and cooperated with more than 10 international donor organizations including European Union (EU), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Bank (WB), World Wide Foundation (WWF), GiZ, etc. Projects implemented by CARD Foundation are specialized in horticulture production (open field and green production), animal health management, food processing including dried fruit production, winemaking, development of agricultural mechanization services, herb production and overall introduction to innovative agricultural production practices.
For more information, please visit www.card.am.
Agriculture plays a key role in the economic and social life of Armenia. In 2018, about 37% of Armenia’s population lived in rural areas, and 1/3 of the total labor force was employed in agriculture. There were around 230-250,000 households living in villages. Approximately one-third of the county’s total labor force was employed in agriculture.
Animal identification and registration is the base of any future system for food safety, animal health, and animal breeding. For this reason, there is a growing demand for the identification of livestock and livestock products, from origin to consumption. Animal identification and animal traceability are tools for addressing animal health (including zoonosis), food safety, and animal breeding issues. These tools can significantly improve the effectiveness of activities such as the management of disease outbreaks and food safety incidents, vaccination programs, animal husbandry, zoning or compartmentalization, surveillance, early response, and notification systems. They can also improve animal movement control, inspection, certification, fair practices in trade and utilization of veterinary drugs, feed, and pesticides at the farm, traceability of animals and products of animal origin, animal welfare, and productivity.
All the above-mentioned factors will have a significant impact on economic development by creating new trade opportunities, as well as improving the quality of production, animal productivity, and export of livestock products, farm incomes and consumer health nationwide.
CARD with funding of Austrian Development Agency has formulated a project which aims to support the RA Government to establish a functional and sustainable animal identification and registration system based on the needs and requirements of the project stakeholders. The proposed AIR project will enable producers to produce more and safer products and to access international markets. It will prevent unsafe food movement, ensuring quick and accurate handling of emergencies. It will enable public and private agencies to access animal movement data and better monitor health and breeding activities.
The overarching long-term impact of the proposed project is։ Improved animal health, food safety, higher productivity, trade and farm income.
To achieve this impact, the project entails the following outcome:
Countrywide animal identification and registration (AIR) system established and functioning.
The following four outputs are expected to be achieved as a result of the project implementation:
1. Improved regulatory framework in the field of AIR and effective application of that framework
2. Improved infrastructure to facilitate the establishment of a user-friendly/practical /simple and sustainable AIR system
3. Strengthened technical and organizational capacities of state officials, veterinarians, and livestock farmers on AIR, food safety, farm management, animal pedigree breeding, environmental protection and animal welfare/protection
4. Enhanced benefits for women to become aware of their economic, labor, and human rights.
Target group, beneficiaries and local partners
The AIR project will expand its outreach compared with HAI&R project and its interventions is carried out in ten Marzes of Armenia: (Ararat, Armavir, Kotayk, Aragatsotn, Shirak, Lori, Tavush, Gegharkunik, Vayots Dzor, Syunik). To implement the activities and expand the project impact nationwide, involvement of the stakeholders is essential.
Direct beneficiaries: a) the RA MoE; b) the RA Centre of the Agricultural Services State Non-Commercial Organization (SNCO); c) MoE AIR department; d) the RA Food Safety Inspectorate; e) the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure; f) the Armenian National Agrarian University g) livestock markets and animal origin food producers; h) slaughterhouses; i) livestock farmers/ the Pedigree Animal Breeders Association; j) veterinarians/the National Association of Veterinarians; k) Farm and Veterinary Service Centers (FVSCs); l) the ANI PAS software development and maintenance team.
Indirect beneficiaries include, but are not limited to: a) other republican executive bodies, including the RA Ministry of Health (MoH) and the RA National Statistical Service; b) agribusinesses, including animal origin food processors, traders; and c) consumers, consumer protection unions.