USDA MAP Officially Closes, Agribusiness Development to Continue with CARD

March 18, 2005

After twelve successful years the United States Department of Agriculture's Marketing Assistance Project (USDA-MAP) will be closing its doors March 31, 2005. Ambassador Evans thanked the USDA-MAP staff for their hard work at a reception March 18th, telling them, "MAP activities have had a measurable impact on the development of Armenia's agriculture business. You should all be proud of how much you have accomplished."

During its history USDA-MAP assisted a core group of over sixty agribusinesses, twenty-five production and marketing cooperatives, and fifty credit clubs and thousands of farmers throughout all regions of Armenia by providing technical, financial, and marketing assistance. In 2004, MAP was awarded the "Gold Medal for Achievements in Agriculture" from the Republic of Armenia's Ministry of Agriculture.

USDA-MAP's agricultural development services will be continued beginning April 4, 2005 by a new Armenian foundation, the Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development (CARD), funded primarily by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). CARD is an independent local entity with a Board of Trustees and an Executive Director appointed by its Founder, Ms. Norma Martin, wife of former USDA-MAP Marketing Manager (1996-2001) Harley Martin.

CARD's Deputy Director, Gagik Sardaryan, commented, "The success of MAP as an organization can be credited to the close collaboration between the local Armenian staff and international consultants who have been flexible and responded quickly to the needs of the market."

Jeffrey E. Engels, the out-going USDA-MAP Director, will continue as CARD Executive Director. In speaking of this transition, Mr. Engels said, "The transition from MAP to CARD is a unique one: for the first time an international USDA agricultural development project will transition its best activities to a private sector, locally registered legacy organization. CARD carries on the successful history begun under MAP, directly responding to the needs of farmers and agribusinesses with market-driven, economical, and technologically-appropriate solutions to Armenian agriculture. This is an exciting opportunity."