RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES
The “Rural Economic Development-New Economic Opportunities (RED-NEO)” program funded by USAID builds upon current and previous development projects, initiatives and activities that the government of Armenia, the U.S. government and USAID, and other donor and non-governmental organizations are implementing, to address economic challenges in rural Armenia.
RED-NEO activities promote inclusive, sustainable economic security and economic growth by supporting entities acting in the horticultural sector in at least 60 communities. The program will accelerate the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (including farms and cooperatives) in the regions; facilitate market linkages between producers and buyers; and establish networks to promote local economic development. It will foster the development of a competitive agriculture sector by improving the performance of rural businesses and cooperatives, and their ability to meet quality standards.
RED-NEO Program strives to achieve the following objectives:
- To identify value-added opportunities and translate them into sustainable economic activities
- To help farmers to increase incomes through sustainable access to markets
The RED-NEO Program operates in 60 communities in Armenia excluding Yerevan. The list of targeted communities include:
The program targets interventions in the following value chians:
- Horticulture
- Fruits and berries processing
- Viticulture and winemaking
- Greenhouses
- Nurseries
- Agricultural mechanization services
- Agrotourism and beekeeping
The primary target groups of the program are:
- Rural population, with a special emphasis on youth, women and vulnerable groups
- Private farmers
- Farm cooperatives
- Food processors
- Farm Service Centers
- Armenian National Agrarian University
The indirect target groups of the program are:
- Government of the Republic of Armenia, including relevant Ministries
- Local and regional authorities of Armenia
- International and local development organizations
- Armenian public at large
- Diaspora, etc.
CARD
The implementation of the RED-NEO Program is being led by CARD Foundation. The latter has been established in 2005 as a successor of USDA in Armenia and has inherited the vast expertise and workstyle from the US Government. Over 15 years, CARD has been implementing agriculture development projects in almost all sub sectors of agriculture, initially by US funds, but later on cooperating with more than 10 international donor organizations.
In an attempt to multiply the impact of invested funds, CARD has adopted “system approach” for implementation of the RED-NEO program. This approach has proved to be the most effective as it reviews sector development problems in system and offers a holistic solution which will upgrade the sector rather than a single beneficiary. Typical examples of this approach include support to lead (locomotive) farmers who grow and pull small scale farmers after them to supply raw material and grow themselves.
The main mission of CARD in implementation of RED-NEO is to ensure proper and timely achievement of project target indicators within the budget limit. And except implementing activities under its supervision, CARD is also responsible for effective coordination of project partners.
AM Partners Consulting Company LLC role in RED-NEO Program
AM Partners Consulting Company LLC, is a co-implementer for the RED-NEO Program. Having a high reputation among a range of donor organizations for transparent and high-quality job, AM Partners Consulting Company has been selected to implement project monitoring and is accountable to COP directly.
AM Partners implements all activities related to monitoring of the results of the Program implementation. This includes the following major functions:
- Collection of information on the results of all activities through collection of evidence information, such as:
- Lists of participants of various activities, events, etc.,
- Photo and video materials on all activities, events, etc. (to the extent possible),
- Reports on implemented activities, events, etc. (to the extent possible),
- To be added…
- Implementation of baseline and follow-up satisfaction surveys among participants of various activities, events, etc.
- Compilation of collected information in a universal monitoring framework.
- Organization and implementation of separate/specific activities and events, such as certain capacity building measures, training, events, etc.
- Review and comment on Small Grant Applications, with an emphasis on financial assessment.
- Selection of target areas for the RED-NEO Program implementation and implementation of Participatory Rural Analyses for the selected communities.
- Implementation of Comprehensive Market Assessments, as guiding materials on needs and opportunities available at the selected communities.
- Draft compilation of the RED-NEO Program reporting – quarterly and yearly reports, annual workplans, MEL plans, etc.
AM Partners Consulting Company LLC was established in 2006. Successful cooperation has been established with many clients including international donor organizations and projects funded by them, RA State agencies, private sector operators, financial institutions, public and quazi – governmental entities, etc. AM Partners provides following main services: monitoring and evaluation (M&E), sociological surveys (quantitative, qualitative), socio-economic studies, design of development interventions and projects, feasibility studies, strategic/business/financial planning, market surveys, etc. Spheres of operations include following sectors: socio-economic and regional development, poverty alleviation, agricultural development, export promotion, nature conservation and environment protection, social and economic development, food safety, etc. AM Partners developed streamlined methods of studies and research, provision of technical assistance and advice. Wide network and perfect knowledge of Armenia (including rural areas) highly contribute to successful implementation of each task.
AWHHE NGO
Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment (AWHHE) was established in 1999 as a non governmental organization (NGO) with the mission to explore the issue of environment pollution in Armenia; advocate the human right to live in healthy environment; promote the decrease of risks from environmentally harmful impacts on human health; and promote healthy lifestyle focusing on women as catalysts of change, and children.
In frame of the RED-NEO project, AWHHE in cooperation with Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development Foundation (CARD) implemented three inter-connected activities as follows: development of PERSUAP on the base of one developed in 2015; organization of the capacity building trainings for local farmers; and assessment of proposals based on possible environmental impact.
PERSUAP was updated in 2019 and the short version was translated into Armenian. In line with the PERSUAP principles, special trainings on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques for local farmers in FSCs, were delivered to about 40 beneficiaries and stakeholders. In 2022, the PERSUAP document will be updated. About 30 SGPs were assessed considering activity-specific environmental baseline conditions, and potential adverse environmental effects associated with planned activities and processes. Based on findings of the assessment, 4 Environmental Review Checklists for Identifying Potential Environmental Impacts of Project Activities and Processes (ERCs) and Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plans (EMMPs) were developed to avoid or adequately minimize the identified effects, intended for use by implementing partners.