With the support of partners including the Government of Armenia, Goris Municipality, the Government of the People’s Republic of China, and the Joint SDG Fund, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), has established a legume processing center in Armenia's Syunik province. The initiative aims to improve the availability and access to nutritious food through investments that decrease post-harvest loss and support farmer’s link to markets.
The newly constructed center is one of the key elements of the broader value chain, which includes providing farmers with good seeds, teaching them new skills, and investments in irrigation with community involvement.
“The community engagement and investments in Khondzoresk community is so strong, and that’s why we have been able to continue collaboration and provide support for the legume value chain. WFP previously engaged with another community in Berd (Tavush), and the success led to replication of the model in Syunik. This time, WFP has connected the two communities to learn from each other and share expertise. The community-to-community learning and network is very valuable,” said Nanna Skau, WFP Representative and Country Director.
With support from the Chinese Government, WFP set up a 40kW solar station at the center, reducing electricity costs, improving productivity, and enhancing business profitability. China's experts also provided online training to improve the local farmers' cultivation skills.
For the community members, the project is transformative and includes new farming techniques adapted to climate change. The community plans to promote nutritious crops and encourage healthier eating habits, and WFP plans to continue supporting the community in developing their own “brand”.
In Armenia, WFP supports eco-friendly, climate adaptive farming and community growth by incorporating green energy and social behavior change into value chain initiatives.
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
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This article was originally published at WFP
Note:
The Joint SDG Fund's joint programmes are under the prestige leadership of the Resident Coordinator Office and implementing United Nations Agencies. With sincere appreciation for the contributions from the European Union and Governments of Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and our private sector funding partners, for a transformative movement towards achieving the SDGs by 2030.
