A R S P I U

AGRICULTURAL REFORM SUPPORT PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION UNIT (ARSPIU)

Privatization of land, livestock and agricultural equipments gave rise to new wave of industrial relations that caused a number of problems difficult to solve. As such the following problems can be prioritized: the loss of old infrastructure and markets, land fragmentation, the need to consolidate huge number of small-scale livestock production producers. Actually, there was an urgent need to consolidate subsistence or semi-natural farms, promote their institutional development, and ensure sustainable incomes.

The first project that was directed towards the solution of these problems was “Agricultural Reform Support Project” with a total value of $20 million which started in September, 1997 after the year of preparatory works. It aimed to increase the agricultural production volumes by supporting the development of private farms, processing farms, strengthening institutional capacities and extension, as well as agricultural research systems and marketing information. Advisory services were critical in the number of interrelated problems which for that moment had 5-year history in Armenia and as such it became the core of the project and subject for further development.

The second Project was “Rural Enterprise and Small-Scale Commercial Agriculture Development Project” (RESCADP). The preparatory works of the Project started in 2005 and lasted till the end of the previous Project. A Development Credit Agreement (Credit Number 4095 AM) in the amount of SDR 13.3 million (US$ 20 million equivalent) credit and US$ 1.75 million grant was signed between the Republic of Armenia and International Development Association on July 20, 2005. The DCA was ratified by the RA National Assembly on October 26, 2005. The Project is being co-financed by the RA Government (US$ 1.82 million) and from other sources (US$ 4.63 million). The Project became effective on December 16, 2005 and would be implemented till November 30, 2009.  With its multi purposefulness and interrelated problems the Project completely corresponds to the problems of present agriculture and would promote the implementation of following three strategies:
 
- RA Government agriculture sector development 
- Poverty reduction 
- Cooperation with the other sectors of the country’s economy 
 
The third is the “Avian Influenza Preparedness project” (AIP), which is being implemented by ARSPIU starting from 2006, in cooperation with the relevant PIU of the RA Ministry of Health, Inter-ministerial operative headquarter and a number of international organizations.