The village Solak is located in the bank of the Hrazdan River. Territory is 3020 sq. km. Height from sea level is 1650 m, with the continental climate. Distance from the regional centre is 5 km, from Yerevan is 40 km. The community has a school, a library and a House of Culture. The forefathers of the inhabitants migrated from Mush and Alashkert in 1828. In the village have preserved the 7th century Mayravanq Astvatsatsin (Mother of God) church and a castle. Solak is a poor village. 40 % households are needy families. The villagers of Solak are mainly busy with cattle-breeding, vegetable and cereals growing.
The lack of awareness of rural women and opportunities to adequately address their needs and priorities with regard to their role and position in society increases their vulnerability and affect their well being. The clear mechanisms of raising awareness and provision of information on sustainable and sound agriculture as well as the educational programs either do not exist or are limited. The economic growth achieved by Armenia is not being enjoyed by all Armenians especially in rural Armenia. The most difficult situation is for an Armenian peasant woman. A rural woman along with her husband is equally involved in manual land
cultivation, hard and time-consuming activities of livestock and farm management whereas the responsibility for taking care of a family rests mainly with a woman. Often women in particular those who have no husbands are responsible for generating incomes for their family, but poor women have a very little opportunity to get money to engage in these activities. Only 5 per cent of all agricultural extension resources are directed to women. Exhaustion of soil productivity forces women to spend more time on providing food for their families and thus less time on participating in income generating activities along with other household activities. Changes in climatic conditions more over exacerbate a vicious cycle of injustice. Considering FAO classification Armenia is stated as a
country with high agricultural risk related to land degradation. Land users including rural women are not aware on organic fertilizers /sustainable ways of fertilization/ such as compost and bio humus as important tools for implementation of organic farming.
One of the most effective ways to improve the situation is the awareness raising, education and training. This information should be given first to the people most at risk, as a target group for the proposed project: rural women, in particular on a low income and lonely women.
The objective of the project:
The objective of the project is to empower the women of Solak village to develop and implement sustainable agriculture approaches to improve their welfare. The project will provide opportunities to obtain knowledge on non-chemical, pesticide free plant protection measures, as well as about the principles of implementation of a small-scale organic farming. They will use the gained knowledge for growing pesticide free fruits and vegetables that will be dried using solar dryers. The members of the women group will develop skills in organic seedling farming. So far there has not been any certified organic seedling production in Armenia. This project can be a wonderful opportunity for them to start working together, to build their capacity and promote rural sustainable development. The gained knowledge and the facilities provided will contribute to constant income generation and increase the role of rural women.
• a group of rural women (20 women) for implementing sustainable agriculture in the village of Solak is established
• a low – cost (2 layer- polyethylene ) green house for good quality organic seedling production is constructed
• 1 training on organic seedling growing for the women group is conducted
• 1 training on vermin composting for the women group is conducted
• 3 small solar dryers for production of dried fruits and vegetables are constructed
• 2 trainings on food drying and packaging for the women group are conducted
• celebration of the International Day of Rural Women is organized to emphasize the rural women’s role
• product realization mechanisms for income generation are provided