For Immediate Release
September 22, 2006

PARTNERING FOR DEVELOPMENT: ARMENIA FUND USA AND HEIFER INTERNATIONAL TO IMPLEMENT A PILOT PROJECT IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

NEW YORK, New York – Heifer International, an international organization working with communities to end hunger and poverty through self-reliance, will implement a pilot project in two villages of Nagorno-Karabakh within Armenia Fund USA’s agricultural development project in the region. Based on its “pass on the gift” principle of ending global hunger, Heifer Caucasus has selected about 30 beneficiary families to help them overcome socio-economic hardships by providing agricultural inputs and training in farming practices. The families will receive 30 Heifer-animals to share their offspring, along with the knowledge and best practices, with other project participants in 3 consecutive years. The project is aimed at improving nutrition of communities in the remote villages of Karabakh and ensuring food security of families that are mostly survivors of a military conflict that ravaged the region in 1991.

Talish and Vank villages in Mardakert region of Nagorno-Karabakh were selected for the implementation of the pilot project based on the dire need of families there who are mostly unemployed and agriculture is the only means for survival. The larger objective of the initiative is to provide appropriate inputs and technical assistance to more than 5,000 families by the end of 2010 and help them improve their economic viability by at least 30% based on environmentally-sound farming practices. It has been designed to be easily expanded onto other regions in the South Caucasus. The agricultural inputs provided by the pilot project include livestock, seeds and seedlings, technical assistance on a wide range of agricultural techniques, as well as project-wide trainings on developing organic farming. Families were selected based upon their size, social vulnerability, experience in animal husbandry and other criteria.

Mardakert region has been a target of much agricultural development activity since Armenia Fund USA launched the Agricultural Initiative, an agricultural development project that is part of a monumental effort to revitalize the region through an integrated approach which touches all aspects of rural life. The regional development program covers a wide range of projects in the area of public health, education and social infrastructure essential to life. Within the scope of this larger development initiative, Armenia Fund USA established Agricultural Development Associations in Mardakert to serve its cluster of 18 villages and support subsistence farmers in improving their agricultural activities. Armenia Fund USA’s partnership with Heifer to improve rural life in the impoverished villages of Nagorno-Karabakh adds to the momentum of significant development in the region.

Nagorno-Karabakh is located in the southeastern part of the Caucasus Minor. The region is typically mountainous, and while the climate is temperate and very favorable for agricultural development, unemployment and food insecurity have caused widespread poverty and malnourishment in the region. The project implemented by Armenia Fund USA and Heifer Caucasus will help develop integrated farming practices that will lead to secure food sources for the communities. Addressing the immediate need of these families will lay the foundation for a successful expansion of both Fund’s Agricultural Initiative and Heifer’s pilot project.

ABOUT ARMENIA FUND USA: ARMENIA FUND USA, founded in 1992, was the first of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s 19 international affiliates and serves constituents in all states east of the Mississippi. As a non-profit, non-governmental, nonsectarian organization, the Fund represents all Armenian constituents.

Armenia Fund USA is the largest contributor among the 19 international affiliates – supporting strategic infrastructure projects in Armenia and Karabakh, and having helped build 138 miles of roads, 100 miles of waterways, 36 schools, 3 electric transmission networks, 210 residential buildings and 15 healthcare institutions.

Armenia Fund USA’s Mission is the development of strategic socio-economic infrastructure in Armenia and Karabakh, focusing on major projects such as major highways, schools, drinking water to communities and humanitarian programs in education, training and medical facilities. The Fund has adopted a policy to go “Beyond Bricks and Mortar” to provide sustainability for projects it sponsors.

To learn more about Armenia Fund USA, please visit our website at
www.ArmeniaFundUSA.org or call us at 212-689-5307.

Armenia Fund USA
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 301
New York, NY 10038