The U.S. Provides 50 tractors to Armenian Farmers

On April 22, 2010, for a few hours, farmer Henrik Yeghyazaryan’s plot at the entry to Dmitrov community (Ararat marz) became the site for signing leasing agreements by farmers who took possession of 50 tractors. The occasion was made possible by Farm Credit Armenia (FCA), one of the ten credit providers involved in Millennium Challenge Account - Armenia's (MCA-Armenia) farm credit program.

The event was kicked off by U.S. Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch who described U.S. assistance to Armenia’s agricultural sector through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. She pointed to Mr. Yegyazaryan as an excellent example of how ordinary farmers have benefitted from U.S. assistance. Henrik is both an FCA member and stockholder, and an MCA-Armenia demonstration farmer. She also highlighted FCA’s role in MCA-Armenia’s credit program. This USDA-established lender has become an important player in agriculture financing through its own resources and MCA-Armenia funds, thereby insuring the sustainability of U.S. government assistance in the field of agriculture.

Farm Credit Armenia, together with nine other financial institutions, has been selected to help disburse $8.5 million in loans for farming and irrigation technologies, greenhouses, cooling facilities, establishment of fruit tree orchards, processing and other activities that promote the objectives of the MCA-Armenia program. Equipment leasing is another essential aspect of agricultural financing that makes state-of-the art tractors and heavy machinery available to Armenian farmers. Farm Credit Armenia is one of the pioneers in introducing agricultural machinery leasing to Armenia and has acquired 50 tractors through MCA-Armenia’s funding.

Overall, since 2007, MCA-Armenia has disbursed about $7.3 million to 633 borrowers.The U.S. Government's total investment in the agricultural and water sector in Armenia through the MCA-Armenia Program will amount to about $180 million by the time the program ends in September 2011.