26.01.2001, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. “Our aim is to provide assistance first of all to those subsistence farmers suffering most from the affects of the drought”, special assistant for the commission of providing assistance to CIS countries at the U.S. government Jerry Oberndorfer said at a press conference today.
According to him, on November 7 the winter wheat seed redistribution program coordinated by the Embassy was completed, the total cost of which was $600.000. As Oberndorfer noted, this humanitarian assistance project resulted in the purchase and distribution of 1,741 metric tons of winter wheat seed to over 12.000 subsistence farmers.
“The United States has also allocated $250.000 for the construction of seven village wells for irrigation and domestic water supply to alleviate some the impact of the drought in the higher elevations of Armenia,” Oberndorfer said. According to him, $165.000 of this funding was provided from the fiscal year 2000 Humanitarian Assistance Fund of U.S. European command. This program, designed for long-term impact, envisages the providing of domestic and irrigation water supply for a number of regions of Armenia, he said.
The U.S. government has pledged $2.4 million in response to a general appeal from the world food program (WFP) headquarters in Rome to support a WFP emergency feeding program (EMOP) for the most needy subsistence farmers in Armenia suffering from the affects of the drought. -0-
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