Rural Development Program
THE ARMENIA FUND
Contact: Sose Amirkhanian
Tel: + (3741) 56 01 06 ext. 107
Fax: + (3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: rdp@himnadram.org
Web:

04 February 2008

Rural Development Program Weekly Update: Milk collection unit, small
projects

Yerevan, 04 February, 2008: After last week’s small lyrical detour we’re
back with good news on the progress of the milk collection center
initiative. We also signal the launch of the automated milking units’ small
projects that will help improve the quality of the milk produced in the
border villages.

MILK COLLECTION CENTER PROJECT LAUNCHED

The establishment of a milk collection center was one of the earliest
economic facilitation initiatives singled out for the Khashtarak cluster
communities. The idea seemed simple enough – provide the border communities
of the region with a source of constant and dependable income. Boosting the
milk collection was one of the obvious choices for a sustainable solution as
all the ingredients were in place for a successful project.

In Armenia, the milk has a ready market, an established price and above all
– people of the region are truly keen to develop this sphere. Tavush region
in general and the Khashtarak cluster communities in particular have a long
and respected tradition of animal husbandry and the majority of the
population there see themselves as cattle breeders. The sphere was hit badly
by the economic calamities of the past twenty years (according to our data
the average farmer currently has only one-two cows) but the desire is still
there and so is the capacity. All that people need is a viable mechanism
that would acquire their milk at a reasonable price and give them the sense
of stability that would allow them to develop without the fear of losing
everything tomorrow.

Developing that mechanism was quite a tricky process and it took several
months to transfer the concept to paper, taking into account and trying to
avoid the possible pitfalls. We based our research on the existing
experience of establishing similar structures in Armenia. Majority of these
projects used the cooperative model in organizing the enterprise. This
concept looks wonderful on paper but the harsh reality shows that these
models generally do not transcend well into reality and the enterprises
simply fall apart. Thus, when dealing with this project, we adopted the milk
collection center as a business approach to the problem.
Next step of the process was finding the people who would believe in this
project and help us to bring it to life. Economic facilitation initiatives
are the cornerstones of the Rural Development Program and are just as, if
not more important than the infrastructure improvement projects. It is the
economic facilitation initiatives that must carry out the practical task of
creating jobs, providing income possibilities and creating the capacity to
maintain whatever infrastructure is put in place. The one problem today is
that the impact of infrastructure improvement projects is severely decreased
because of the lack of adequate maintenance.

The Armenian community of San Francisco was quick to embrace this idea and
offer their full support to the enterprise. Most of the details of the
project were finalized during the Armenia Fund Executive Director Vahe
Aghabegians’ visit to the United States last week. With the signing of a
memorandum of understanding, the project was officially green lit and will
be up and running by the end of this year.

The designated location for the milk collection center is the community of
Azatamut. The capacity of the unit will be sufficient not only to cover the
six villages of the Khashtarak cluster but also serve the needs and provide
income for a number of neighboring villages. We see the implementation of
this project as something that will pull together and give shape to the
Program activities in Tavush region and also define our general vision of
developing border villages. We believe that only by ensuring parallel
economic and infrastructure development can we achieve real results and a
sustainable change in people’s lives.

AUTOMATED MILKING UNIT SMALL PROJECT

The small projects initiative was launched by the Armenia Fund late last
year. It has since been marked by a very positive feedback from people who
cared and wanted to help but did not necessarily have the financial capacity
to undertake a major infrastructure amendment or economic facilitation
project. The key idea here is that narrowing the scale of the project does
not lessen its significance. People who live in the border villages truly
need that stimulus, no matter how small, that life is actually improving and
there is a point in not leaving home.

The small projects tackle issues that are essentially parts of the same big
puzzle we set out to solve together. Most of the existing small projects are
aimed at breaching the information/know-how gap between the border villages
and the rest of the world, whether it is the provision of computers,
newspaper subscriptions or the TV and DVDs.

Now, with the launch of the automated milking unit small project we want to
address the issue of improving the quality of the milk produced in the
border communities. This project is an integral part of the economic
facilitation strategy which also includes the establishment of milk
collection centers, improvement of the overall veterinary service and
conducting specialized vocational trainings with the farmers.
The provision of the automated milking units should have a positive impact
on several levels: first of all, it will allow the farmer to milk the cattle
without hiring outside help. This is a real issue in the communities where
many people of working age have left their homes in search of jobs depriving
the communities of the vital human resources.
Thus, when a farming household finally gets an opportunity to break the
circle of sustenance farming and expand their production, it faces a very
real problem of not being able to find working hands that could sustain the
increased capacity. The use of the milking units requires little manual
labor, partially solving the issue.
Another benefit of the properly used milking unit is the absence of any odor
and taste which can be absorbed from the environment, thus improving the
overall quality and increasing the market value of the product. Higher
market value equals higher income for the farmer and an increased impact of
the milk collection centers on the economy of the border villages.`