09 Aug
Uncategorized

National Veterinary Association was founded at its Founding Assembly

The founding assembly of the National Veterinary Association (NVA) took place on 3 of August, 2018. The event was organized with the support of Strategic Development Agency (SDA) NGO within the framework of “Livestock Development in the South of Armenia”| project and was held at Syunik Animal Market premises.  More than 30 people participated in the event including veterinarians from different regions, CARD foundation and SDA team members. The unanimous decision was voted for to establish an association to set up a dialogue with relevant state institutions to effectively deliver and regulate animal health services. During the meeting, NVA adopted its Charter and formed decision-making bodies, including the Board consisting of five members representing different regions of the RA. Tigran Gabrielyan, an experienced veterinarian has been elected as a Chairman.

Animal health related issues and development perspectives were discussed during the assembly. Amongst others, absence of medical insurance for veterinarians was highlighted as veterinarians are sensitive to infections and diseases due to their profession. The range of discussed topics included various issues such as: improvement of skills and qualifications of veterinarians, training of young professionals in the field, access to international veterinary practices and experience exchange etc. The founding assembly ended with the decision to meet and develop a more comprehensive and detailed agenda.

08 Aug
HomePageARM, HomePageENG

Boosting cooperation in the field of food safety

A two-day seminar dedicated to food safety issues took place on 4-5 of August, 2018 in Tsaghkadzor. The conference was held by the State Service for Food Safety of the Ministry of Agriculture of the RA (SSFS) and with the support of the “Livestock Development in the South of Armenia” project implemented by Strategic Development agency (SDA) NGO funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. It was aimed at informing journalists about structural changes in SSFS and discussing food security issues. More than 30 people participated in the seminar representing local media platforms, different NGOs and SSFS.

Speakers presented topics such as EEU technical regulations, the importance and necessity of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) system, risk management, transparency as a tool of indirect control etc. During the event, journalists had an opportunity to ask questions and get comprehensive responses from specialists. Intensive cooperation between SSFS and SDA was launched with the Memorandum of Understanding signed in September 2017. Along with such seminars the range of activities was implemented to to increase public awareness in the realm of food safety. Guidelines and informative booklets were released for customers and entrepreneurs; the information campaign was carried out to inform people about hotline service etc.

 

18 Jun
NEWSARM, NEWSARM, NEWSARM

HAFL Expert Conducts VET learning workshop for Armenian teachers

“Activity-oriented and student-centered learning in VET” workshop was held on June 05-08 in Goris State Agricultural College within the framework of “VET development in Syunik marz” project, implemented by “Strategic Development Agency” (SDA) NGO in partnership with Swiss organizations HEKS/EPER (Swiss Church Aid) and HAFL (the School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences of the Bern University of Applied Sciences).

The workshop was led by HAFL expert Johannes Brunner and was attended by over a dozen teachers from Goris State Agricultural College and Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU) Sisian branch, as well as representatives of the private sector. The main objectives of the workshop were to familiarize teachers with student-centered learning methods, to introduce the PBL (Problem Based Learning) method, to strengthen teaching competences with communication and reflection skills, as well as to familiarize with exam procedures.

Simultaneously with the workshop for teachers, another workshop on non-formal learning processes in host companies was conducted for two milk processing factories – “Sis-Alp” factory in Sisian and “Elola” factory in Goris, where the technology of hard and semi-hard cheese production was introduced.

 

13 Jun
NEWSENG, NEWSENG, NEWSENG, NEWSENG, NEWSENG

“Lovely Goris” guesthouse registers over tenfold increase in bookings with EU support

Yerevan, June 13, 2018:// Zhirayr Martirosyan and Nadejda Sevoyan were one of the firsts to use the concept of a hostel in Goris back in 2003. They have been welcoming guests from all over the world ever since. When the opportunity arose in late 2017, the guesthouse involved in “Boosting Competitiveness of Regional SMEs” project jointly realized by SME Development National Centre of Armenia (SME DNC) and “Strategic Development Agency” (SDA) NGO amongst other members, and co-funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development of RA.

The hostel stood out with comfortable amenities, delicious food prepared by the landlady using Armenian traditional recipes and only fresh ingredients, as well as unique visual art – contemporary paintings by owner Zhirayr. However, because of lack of hospitality management and internet marketing and promotion skills, the business was showing slow growth.

Within the framework of continuous business consultancy support to SMEs, SDA team tackled a few important issues hindering the business’s growth. In addition to rebranding from Goris Hostel to “Lovely Goris” to avoid confusion with Goris Hotel operating in the same area, existing issues with representation on worldwide booking platforms like Booking.com were fixed and the guesthouse started to receive online booking requests again after several months of interruption. At the second stage of business consultancy support, SDA team developed two additional services using the existing opportunities for growth. Zhirayr, who is a renowned painter, started offering art tours in the city, as well as master classes for hostel guests in his art studio located in a natural cave in old Goris. This package, developed for explorers interested in art, history and culture of Syunik region, has set this hostel aside from other hospitality businesses in the city and created a distinct niche for “Lovely Goris”.

SDA team undertook promotion measures, such as a familiarization trip of over a dozen tour agency representatives to program beneficiary businesses, which also rendered measurable outcomes. As a result, only a few months into cooperating with the project through business consultancy and MASP packages, “Lovely Goris” guesthouse has registered more than 40 bookings in April-May of 2018, as opposed to only 3 in the same period of the last year, at that showing steady increase.

“Boosting Competitiveness of regional SMEs” project is co-funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development of RA. The overall objective of the Project is to boost competitiveness of regional SMEs and create sustainable employment opportunities in Lori, Syunik and Armavir regions/marzes of Armenia. The Project is implemented by the SME Development National Center of Armenia in partnership with “Strategic Development Agency” NGO, “Armavir Development Center” NGO, “Spitak-Farmer” NGO, “Syun” NGO.

 

 

 

09 Jun
HomePageARM, HomePageARM, HomePageARM, HomePageENG, HomePageENG, HomePageENG, NEWSARM

“Sheep Shearing Festival-2018” took place in Syunik Animal Market

Fourth annual “Sheep Shearing Festival” took place in the area of Syunik Animal Market of Khot rural settlement of Tatev community of Syunik marz on June 9. The Festival was organized by “Strategic Development Agency” NGO with the financing from Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC).

The main purpose of the event is to promote local produce, traditions and culture of Vayots Dzor and Syunik regions of Armenia, as well as to develop rural tourism. Overall, around 2,500 people from Syunik, Vayots Dzor and other marzes, Yerevan, as well as travelers from abroad attended the event.

The Festival was also attended by a number of state officials, including Adviser to Minister of Agriculture of RA Ashot Grigoryan, as well as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to Armenia H.E. Mr. Lukas Gasser.

“Syunik region is very similar to the mountainous geography of Switzerland, and that is why it is so close to my heart. Switzerland has been implementing a number of agricultural projects in Syunik and Vayots Dzor regions for many years and has recently expanded into the Northern regions as well,” the Ambassador stated in his welcoming speech and emphasized the importance of the Festival. Mr. Gasser even tried to sheer a sheep himself.

Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture of RA Ashot Grigoryan stated that sheep breeding is among the priorities of RA Ministry of Agriculture and expressed confidence that both investors and farming communities, given the support of RA Ministry of Agriculture, will develop this sphere.

The Festival included a sheep shearing contest, experienced shearers from Great Britain and neighboring Georgia invited for the event, live national music and dances, rope walker performance, an exhibition-fair, where producers from communities of Syunik, Vayots Dzor, Armavir, Lori and Gegharkunik marzes presented their products. The guests of the Festival had access to Food Court and tasting of traditional Armenian dishes.

As compared to the previous years, the geography of the event was expanded in terms of both participating communities and producers. In addition to Syunik and Vayots Dzor marzes, Armavir, Lori and Gegharkunik were also represented. This year, 12 shearers from Syunik, Vayots Dzor and Gegharkunik marzes competed in the sheep shearing contest. Romanos Sargsyan from Shinuhayr community of Goris won the first place in the competition, shearing a sheep in 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

 

 

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