17 Oct
Uncategorized

Deputies of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation visited the “Yerpin” cheese making workshop

Stefan Müller-Altermatt and Michel Matter, deputies of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation, who arrived in Armenia on a working visit, accompanied by Sargis Shahinyan, Secretary General of the Switzerland-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group, H.E. Lukas Rosenkranz, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to Armenia, and Werner Thut, Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland to Armenia, on october 16- visited “Yerpin” cheese making factory located in Areni community of Vayots Dzor marz.

The purpose of the visit was to familiarize with the success and increase of production of the “Yerpin” cooperative, a beneficiary of the “Livestock Development in the South of Armenia” project implemented by the “Strategic Development Agency” NGO with the financial support of The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Although the above-mentioned project was completed, but the support of the project allowed to ensure the sustainable development of “Yerpin” cooperative.

The participants of the visit toured the cheese making workshop, got acquainted with the produced varieties of cheese and the obstacles that the factory faced.

In the framework of the meeting, Mkrtich Ayvazyan, the chairman of the “Strategic Development Agency” NGO, presented the current projects implemented by the organization and the results of the previous two major livestock development projects.

 

14 Oct
NEWSENG, NEWSENG, NEWSENG, NEWSENG

Two-day working discussion with the partners of the “Skills and Knowledge Development” pilot project

On October 13-14, within the frameworks of the RECONOMY “Skills, Knowledge and Intermediation Development” pilot project implemented by Strategic Development Agency (SDA) NGO, a meeting/discussion was organized with the project partners: Armenian National Agrarian University, Unified Social Service of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of RA, Cheese Makers’ Union of Armenia, Armenian Tourism Federation, Links Analytics and Armenian Hikers Association.

During the two day meeting the partners presented the results achieved within the pilot project as well as the challenges and their possible solutions were discussed. As a result, planned joint activities were agreed till the end of the year.

The “Skills, Knowledge and Intermediation Development” pilot project is implemented by SDA NGO in the framework of RECONOMY.

RECONOMY is a regional inclusive and green economic development program of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), implemented by HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation in partnership with SDA NGO and others in the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkan countries.

29 Sep
NEWSENG

A training and consultation were held with the target groups of the “Livestock Development in Armenia: South-North 2” project

On September 28, a training and consultation were held with the target groups of the “Livestock Development in Armenia: South-North 2” project in Chambarak community, Gegharkunik region.

During the course, the following topics were presented and discussed: the role of women and men in agriculture development, climate change and its impact on agriculture, a consultation was provided on animal care, feeding and efficient fodder production.

During the training, the representatives of the target groups received new knowledge about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in agriculture, the need for new adaptation related actions as a result of climate change, and received consultation on animal behavior and care, feeding and efficient fodder production.

The course was held in an atmosphere of active discussion, full of useful information and practical examples.

Such courses will also be held in Shirak and Syunik regions of RA.

29 Sep
NEWSARM, NEWSARM, NEWSARM, NEWSARM, NEWSARM

The long-term development project “Modernizing Vocational Education and Training in Agriculture in Armenia 2022-2025 – MAVETA” has been launched

On September 27, 2022, the Swiss Cooperation Office in Armenia organized the launch event of the long-term development project “Modernizing Vocational Education and Training in Agriculture in Armenia 2022-2025 – MAVETA”.

The event was attended by Armenian Government officials, including the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan, representatives of co-funding and implementing partners, as well as interested international and local organizations and individuals.

Zhanna Andreasyan welcomed the launch of the main phase of the project, thanked all the partners of the project and assured that the RA government, represented by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport as well as the Ministry of Economy, will provide the necessary institutional support for the smooth implementation of the project.

During the event, the representatives of “Strategic Development Agency” NGO and the German Development Agency (GIZ) presented the details of the “Modernizing Vocational Education and Training in Agriculture in Armenia 2022-2025 – MAVETA” project.

In practice, the Project seeks to train young people so that their knowledge is directly useful for their future professional career, as hired professionals or self-employed. Practical learning in companies and farms shall be combined with modern cutting-edge knowledge learned in colleges. The selected professions include Veterinary Specialist, Milk and Dairy Technologist, Farmer, Agricultural Machinery, Milk Farm Manager, Orchard Workers / Nut and Fruit Farmers.

Moreover, the Project will work to anchor this dual education approach at the policy development and institutional level: policies shall become more coherent, educational institutions more effective, and a cooperation between the public and the private sector shall be well established. On the ground, the project will work with Goris State Agricultural College, Sisian College of ANAU (Syunik), Stepanavan State Agricultural College (Lori), Berd State Multifunctional College (Tavush), Echmiadzin Craftsman State School (Armavir) and Yerevan College of ANAU.

The Project started on December 3, 2021, with a preparatory phase that has been successfully summarized in August 2022. The 1st main phase of implementation started afterwards, which will last until August 2025 with total budget of 8,3 mln. CHF. The 2nd main phase has already been approved in principle for the years 2026-2030 as well.

The MAVETA project is funded by a broad coalition of international and local organizations led by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), including the Austrian Development Agency, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Government of Armenia, the Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER) NGO, Izmirlian Foundation, the Strategic Development Agency (SDA) NGO and Vanand Agro CJSC.

The project’s implementing partners are the GIZ and HEKS/EPER with the involvement of SDA and the School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (HAFL).

 

26 Aug
Uncategorized

Two-day workshop on the development of a conceptual tourism product

On August 25-26th, with the support of the “Strategic Development Agency” NGO, a two-day online seminar was organized by the partner organization “Agency for Strategic Initiatives “.

The workshop included topics such as development of tourism and recreation clusters and tourism conceptual products, design of industrial tourism offers for domestic and inbound tourism.

“Agency for Strategic Initiatives” has many years of experience in developing tourist destinations for the regions of the Russian Federation and implementing strategic development programs.

During the two-day seminar, the “Agency for Strategic Initiatives” introduced their best cases followed by the discussion of possible cooperation.

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