Yerevan, December 5. ArmInfo. Today, Consuelo Vidal, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative, Timothy David Straight, Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Norway and Lida Nanyan, Governor of Shirak marz paid an official visit to Bavra community of Shirak marz. UNDP Armenia told ArmInfo that the delegation was received by the mayors of Bavra, Saragyugh, Sizavet and Tavshut villages and residents of the communities. The purpose of the visit was to observe the development projects implemented in the area, part of which was the official ceremony marking the launch of an agricultural machinery pool and presentation of a regional newspaper first ever established in the district.

Bavra, Saragyugh, Sizavet and Tavshut are among the most socially disadvantaged rural communities of Armenia. Located in the very northern Ashotsk sub district of Shirak marz bordering Georgia, the communities have suffered greatly from the devastating earthquake and socio-economic hardships of 1990-ies.

The villages have been in the focus of UNDP Armenia since August 2006 when as part of its cross border cooperation initiative UNDP's Community Development Project entered the district to address the rural problems by applying a cluster development approach. In line with the participatory planning methodology, UNDP has engaged these communities in the elaboration of an integrated development plan for years 2007-2009 which outlines the common vision, needs and opportunities for the advancement of the cluster. One of the components prioritized by this plan has been the establishment of an agricultural machinery pool the functioning of which has been considered as the major prerequisite to development of the rural district.

As a result, the pool has been established in Bavra community with support from the Government of Norway and UNDP Armenia. In the framework of the project implemented in 2007, the old Soviet-time pool was fully renovated and a fleet of several brand new machinery units has been provided including four Belarus-made wheeled tractors, one plough, a tractor-mounted mowing- machine, a baling press, a potato combine and an automated potato-planter. Due to the new equipment, many of the plough-lands which were used previously as natural hayfields and were not cultivated properly now are available for grain crops and potato growing. This will significantly increase the per-hectare gross yield, which will be incomparably higher than the yield from hayfields. The agricultural machinery pool will serve all the four communities of the cluster. Primary beneficiaries of the pool are the socially vulnerable families of the four villages the total number of which makes around one hundred households. The agricultural machinery recipient and supervisor is the Lernajavakhamerdz Fund for Community Development (LEJAME). LEJAME was founded in June 2007 with targeted support and counseling from UNDP Armenia in an effort to set up a sound basis for institutional management. The Fund was formed jointly by four communities of Ashotsk sub district - Bavra, Saragyugh, Sizavet and Tavshut.

In an effort to mobilize the population and especially the youth of the cluster villages, UNDP Armenia has supported publishing of the new periodical. Titled Khachmerouk (Crossroad) this newspaper will be issued on a quarterly basis and will highlight the most interesting and useful information on the life of all the four communities.