ARMENIA - ARMENIE

His Excellency Ishkhan Mardirossian, Deputy Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia

First of all, I would like to apologize to your honourable assembly to make a short shift from our real problem and give some short explanation about the statement of the Azerbaijani delegation about my Republic, Armenia. We are gathered here not to speak about country-to-country conflicts, but to find a solution and resolve the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the world. There are many conflicts like Nagorney-Karabak in the world, but this kind of conflict must not be treated here and therefore we do not want to get into debate with my Azerbaijani colleague here. This problem is in discussion already in many directions and levels and for this reason it is nonsense to utilize this assembly for this kind of problem. Now let me come to my statement.

Mr. Chairman I am confident that under your capable guidance the Summit will conclude with optimism towards a brighter future for all populations by taking new steps in implementing, effectively the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action.

The driving force behind this memorable Summit is the dynamic Director-General of FAO, Dr. Jacques Diouf, who in a very short time succeeded in making a mark in achieving to gather so many nations' distinguished and dedicated leaders to endorse the Declaration and Plan of Action to reduce hunger and malnutrition and create awareness regarding one of the most basic human rights: the right to proper food.

Let me express my gratitude for the opportunity to participate in this very important meeting. I believe our work will be effective.

The Government of the Republic of Armenia fully approves the objectives stated in the World Declaration and Plan of Action for Nutrition which was adopted by the International Conference on Nutrition that was held in Rome in December 1992. The Republic is committed to the realization process of those objectives and is currently developing a national plan of action on the food issues of the Republic of Armenia, the implementation of which is envisaged during the coming five years.

The establishment of independence and the reforms which followed in Armenia radically changed the situation in the vitally important sectors of the economy. The increase in the level of prosperity, including the growth of food security for the population always remains at the centre of our social and economic development arrangements. The need to protect the food security of the more needy groups of the population requires a global consolidation of production capacities and social possibilities. In this respect, the Government of the Republic of Armenia considers the solution to this problem as one of the most urgent priorities.

Armenia is moving decisively towards the establishment of a market system. In spite of the difficulties, we can state that for the last three years we have been able to stop the economic decline and inflation, and to ensure further economic development. We are currently implementing comprehensive reforms.

Since the agrarian sector plays a very decisive role in the socio-economic situation of the Republic of Armenia, based on the all important issue of food security, the economic reforms which started in the agricultural sector related to property rights. The goal of those reforms was to replace the whole system with a stable and effective sector based on and regulated by market forces.

The privatization of land and other production concerns created prerequisites for their more efficient utilization, the rehabilitation of production capacities and their further growth. But during the first stage of privatization there appeared to be a great many contradictions, due to the need to encourage private agricultural production as well as state-supplied infrastructure.

The reform has resolved the following problems:

· Economically, the reform has created the means to avoid the sharp decline in economic production, to utilize the labour force and financial resources in a more efficient way;

· Socially, the reform has created an opportunity to provide more employment in rural areas. Peasants were given the possibility to enter the market with their own products and to generate incomes.

Currently, the agrarian reform process and land reform are advancing. In fact, we are currently in the second stage of land reform, which is specified by the following features:

Through the creation of joint-stock companies there is a continuous process of denationalization and complete privatization of agricultural enterprises and also those enterprises and organizations that service and provide inputs for the agricultural sector.

The land market is being developed with its respective components. We have established an agricultural cooperative bank (ACBA), the operation of which is occurring in parallel to the establishment of the peasant unions, and different associations' cooperatives. A wholesale market project is being implemented to facilitate the problems of selling agricultural products.

Due to the reforms that were implemented in the agricultural sector during the past it became possible to resolve some of the country's food security problems. Starting in 1994, food security in terms of availability and stability has been maintained. The increase in domestic food production has contributed to this solution. However, in terms of quality and variety of food for the whole population and especially regarding accessibility, quality, variety and stability, the existence of food insecurity has been alarming. To solve this problem the Government has adopted a comprehensive programme which is currently in the process of implementation and based on an increase in domestic resources and international technical assistance.

The food security and trade-economic problems occurred due to the blockade of the Republic. They require priority attention in order to increase the general level of food self-sufficiency, which needs to be considered as a short-term policy. It is targeted to overcome the blockade difficulties and those that were typical during the transition period.

In the market system, the role of the Government is continually changing, which will allow private producers to act absolutely independently and a favourable environment. According to the policy, the Government is going to solve the following problems:

· To complete the reforms in all agrarian and food sectors by privatizing input supply, as well as service and trading facilities;

· To form an agrarian market by adopting a comprehensive regulatory framework, which will establish a favourable environment for all forms of ownership for independent producers and associated operations;

· To reduce high risk conditions for agrarian operations in Armenia by development and implementation of Government programmes for ensuring food security.

The main goal of Government is to develop international cooperation in order to create opportunities for the producers to enhance foreign trade, develop different projects for financial support, technical assistance, information networks, training and retraining, etc.

The Republic of Armenia gives great significance to the World Food Summit. The country Position Paper is presented to the Summit. The paper meticulously and comprehensively introduces the food security issues in Armenia and the major problems with their respective solutions.

Armenia supports the Rome Declaration and Plan of Action of the World Food Summit. Armenia has already developed its strategy in this field. The Government of the Republic of Armenia assures that through the mobilization of domestic resources and human capital, as well as support by international organizations, and its cooperation with economically developed countries, the country will be able to come out of the existing difficulties and provide its own population with the appropriate food security level.

Yes, Director-General, we agree with you that it is intolerable that more than 800 million people throughout the world, and particularly in developing countries, do not have enough food to meet their basic needs.

Armenia has already endorsed fully the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action. Armenia will do its best to accomplish the seven Commitments to action approved by the Committee on World Food Security on 31 October 1996.