On June 15, 2021, within the framework of the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, on the initiative of the RA Ministry of Economy and with the support of the UN Office in Armenia, the second workshop of the “UN Food Systems Summit: Recommendations on Effective Actions and Policy” was held in Tsakhkadzor.

The event was chaired by the National Head of the Food Systems Summit, the RA Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan. The workshop was also attended by Avag Avanesyan, the Deputy Minister of Economy, Shombi Sharp, the UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia, heads and representatives of a number of local and international stakeholder organizations, other officials and experts in the field. The coordinator of the discussion was the Rector of the Armenian National Agrarian University Vardan Urutyan.

The first phase of the workshop was dedicated to ensuring the availability of safe food, promoting large-scale production of environmentally friendly products, as well as strengthening the capacity to withstand the often-changing economic environment.

Welcoming the workshop participants, the Deputy Minister Arman Khojoyan noted: “During the first discussion, it was possible to clarify the forthcoming actions that should be on a number of important issues. Therefore, today’s agenda includes issues that still need to be discussed together and jointly outline the effective way and measures to help us establish sustainable food systems, thus ensuring inclusive economic development”.

Arman Khojoyan also noted with satisfaction that the document “United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Armenia 2021-2025” was recently signed, which defines a new important guideline for already existing and deep cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the UN.

In his report, the Deputy Minister Avag Avanesyan referred to the state’s toolkit of the food security assistance and underlined in that process the importance of the state intervention at the right time with the necessary toolkit. During the presentation of the state assistance, he spoke of the role of the public-private partnership, public investments, as well as raising awareness about the sector.

During the workshop, the RA Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan presented the works related to implementation of effective actions within the framework of land reforms and next steps.

During the event, Arman Khojoyan presented a report entitled “Increasing the efficiency of use of agricultural land”. In his speech he mentioned that on January 23, 2020, the RA Government approved the “Concept of increasing the efficiency of use of agricultural land and action plan”. The report states that the Ministry of Economy has made a number of amendments to the Land Code, as well as drafted a law proposing systemic solutions for efficient use of land. The Deputy Minister also presented the draft of the RA Government Decree defining the criteria for classification of unused lands and the registration procedure, the new project of the Government for changing the land category, as well as the results of the pilot use of GIS systems and opportunities for expansion of these activities.

In his speech the ANAU Rector Vardan Urutyan noted: “I think we have succeeded in the first stage of the dialogue in the sense that we have been able to bring together the largest and most targeted group of national and international stakeholders, who are responsible, capable, and willing to create food systems through inclusive value chains”. Emphasizing the important role of education in the process of food reforms implementation, Vardan Urutyan stressed that in this regard the Armenian National Agrarian University plays a significant role and will fulfill its mission with honor.

Aram Vardanyan, the Investment Director of the “Enterprise Armenia” Foundation’s Investment Support Center, presented a report on strengthening public-private partnership for transformation and promotion of exportation of food systems.

The speeches were followed by active discussions on the topic, the participants addressed their questions and presented a number of proposals for regulation and improvement of the sector.