Epress.am News from Armenia
Vice President for Compact Operations of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Patrick Fine, will visit Armenia Oct. 2–4 to review the results of the five year US-funded MCA-Armenia Program. During his visit he will meet with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, senior officials of the Government of Armenia, farmer beneficiaries, donor partners, and private sector and civil society representatives, according to a press release issued by the US Embassy in Armenia today.
In 2006, the US Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Government of the Republic of Armenia signed a Compact with the objective of reducing rural poverty through a sustainable increase in the economic performance of the agricultural sector. Since its completion on Sept. 29, 2011, the MCC grant investment of nearly $177 million USD in the MCA-Armenia program has benefitted over 420,000 rural residents in around 350 communities across Armenia by refurbishing major sections of the country’s main canal systems, modernizing some of the most urgently needed pumping stations, introducing new gravity irrigation schemes, re-building tertiary canals and restoring sections of the Ararat Valley Drainage system. The MCA-Armenia program has also trained over 45,000 farmers in improved agriculture practices, delivering technical assistance to water supply institutions, and providing $8.5 million USD in credit to farmers and small agribusinesses to support the program objectives, reads the statement.