Demography Archives - Page 2 of 11

Construction of the Védi reservoir, February 2023.

Water is an essential resource for economic and social development, but in Armenia its sustainable management is a major challenge. This landlocked country, subject to arid summers, has to cope with a growing demand for water, particularly for its agriculture, which today employs an estimated quarter of the working population. Irrigated farming accounts for around 80% of total agricultural production.

In the fertile Ararat plain, the ageing irrigation systems, dating from the Soviet era, lead to major water losses and depend on energy-intensive pumping. Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is helping Armenia make the transition to more sustainable water management by supporting the construction of the Vedi reservoir, the largest water infrastructure built in the country since the Soviet era. This initiative is not limited to infrastructure: it is part of a wider strategy to modernise the entire agricultural sector through a programme to develop irrigated agriculture, financed by European Union funds under the name IADAAM (Irrigated Agriculture Development in Ararat and Armavir Marzes).

Water in Armenia: a multidimensional challenge

The water challenge in Armenia does not just concern agriculture. It is part of a wider context in which climate change, the legacy of Soviet infrastructure and geopolitical tensions are exacerbating the pressure on this vital resource.

Lake Sevan, the country’s main freshwater reserve, is being over-exploited, threatening its ecological balance and having long-term economic consequences. At the same time, obsolete infrastructures, based on energy-hungry pumping stations and ageing networks, are causing major water losses. According to the World Bank, irrigation efficiency[1] is only 25% (whereas a modern system can achieve 75-80%) and water productivity could be improved by more than 40% by rehabilitating and modernising existing infrastructure. This inefficiency places a considerable burden on public finances, with the state having to subsidise irrigation on a massive scale to support farmers.

The impact of global warming is exacerbating this pressure. Irregular rainfall, early snowmelt and rising temperatures are altering hydrological cycles, forcing farmers to adapt their practices quickly to ensure the sustainability of their farms.

Ensuring a stable and sustainable water supply is essential for food security and the resilience of rural communities. This helps to keep people rooted in their land, limiting rural desertification and curbing the rural exodus.

Vedi reservoir and irrigation system construction project

An integrated project: the Vedi reservoir and the agricultural support programme

With financing in the form of a 75 million euro loan from AFD, supplemented by a 15 million euro contribution from the Armenian government and a 10 million euro grant from the European Union to support irrigated agriculture, the Vedi reservoir is a concrete response to the water challenges. It will store up to 29 million cubic metres of water, thereby reducing dependence on direct withdrawals from Lake Sevan. The reservoir will ensure irrigation of the Ararat plain during the dry season, guaranteeing farmers’ harvests. A support programme for irrigated agriculture completes this project, accompanying the transition to more sustainable and efficient water management.

In the Ararat plain, where agriculture is still largely based on outdated irrigation systems, the work undertaken goes beyond the construction of the reservoir. New irrigation canals and pipes are being installed to limit water losses and guarantee more reliable access to farms. More modern techniques such as gravity-fed irrigation are being introduced to reduce dependence on electric pumps and cut costs for farmers. On the ground, teams are working with farmers to help them adopt more efficient farming practices: introducing new crops adapted to local conditions, advising on crop rotation and the rational use of water.

Visit to the VEDI reservoir with, from left to right: Sylvain Tesson (writer), Audrey Gourdien (AFD), Alain Boinet (Défis Humanitaires), Olivier Decottignies (French Ambassador to Armenia), Vincent Montagne (President of the Syndicat National de l’Edition France). Photo Antoine Agoudjian for Le Figaro Magazine.

The programme also supports farmers in their investments. Thanks to specific funding schemes, they can acquire more efficient equipment and install more water-efficient irrigation systems, such as drip irrigation. The initiative also facilitates land consolidation and the development of cooperatives, enabling small producers to pool their efforts and better adapt to market changes.

One of the key aspects of the programme is adaptation to climate change. Faced with droughts, heavy rainfall and increasingly unpredictable weather, farmers are given support to adjust their practices and ensure the long-term survival of their crops. By stabilising access to water resources and encouraging crop diversification, this programme is helping to strengthen the resilience of Armenia’s agricultural sector.

This comprehensive approach is gradually transforming local agriculture, offering farmers the means to improve their yields and stabilise their income, while preserving water resources in the long term.

Conclusion: a comprehensive approach to sustainable agriculture

The Vedi reservoir, combined with the integrated approach of the support programme for irrigated agriculture, illustrates how modernising irrigation, preserving natural resources and improving living conditions for farmers can be compatible objectives. This dual approach guarantees secure access to water and promotes sustainable agriculture in the face of climatic and economic challenges.

[1] Irrigation efficiency reflects the effectiveness of the entire irrigation system in delivering water to crops, from the source to the root zone. It is the result of effective delivery and application in the field. Good irrigation efficiency at system level means minimum water wastage and better use of water.

By Fanny Delpey, Director of AFD’s South Caucasus office

A graduate of Sciences Po Toulouse (Economics and Finance Section) and holder of a DEA in International Economics from the University of Paris II – Panthéon-Assas, Fanny Delpey has been working in international development for over 15 years.

After starting her career in 2006 as a Civilian Technical Aid Volunteer in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, she joined the headquarters of the French overseas departments’ issuing institutes as a junior economist in 2008. In 2011, she joined Proparco as a portfolio manager, before joining AFD in 2015 as a project team manager in structured finance. For eight years, she contributed to the financial structuring of non-sovereign projects in agribusiness, transport and energy, mainly in Africa and Asia.

In 2019, she became Deputy Director of AFD in Jerusalem, overseeing projects in energy, health, governance and civil society in the West Bank and Gaza. Since July 2023, she has been head of AFD’s South Caucasus agency.

I invite you to read these interviews and articles published in the edition :

An editorial by Alain Boinet

Behind the students, from left to right, Sylvain Tesson, Alain Boinet, Vincent Montagne and Renaud Lefebvre, at the SPFA Francophone Centre in Yerevan.

The 4 pallets of books from France arrived safely in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, on Monday 22 January 2025. They contain 2,700 books of contemporary French-language literature for students, an initiative of Défis Humanitaires and its partners (1) with the support of the French Embassy.

This Monday, at the SPFA francophone centre in Yerevan, we are here with Sylvain Tesson, the patron of this initiative, Vincent Montagne, president of the Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE) and its director, Renaud Lefebvre, who have made it possible to collect 4000 new books free of charge from 12 publishing houses (2) on the basis of a list drawn up by level of age from 6 to 18.

Habet, Anna, Liana, Garéguine, Nelli, the teachers are here with some of the 60 students, many of them young girls like Meri, who was expelled from Artsakh with her family, and who sings us a song from her country. They are all learning French and speak it well.

We began the day by meeting representatives of two publishing houses, Antares and Newmag, as well as the Deputy Minister for Culture, Education and Sport, Daniel Danielyan, together with Xavier Richard from the embassy and David Tursz (Institut français). Partnership projects were outlined with Vincent Montagne and Renaud Lefebvre from the SNE, including the idea of Armenia taking part in the Paris Book Festival.

Together with the French ambassador, Olivier Decottignies, our delegation paid their respects at the memorial to the genocide perpetrated by the Young Turk government in 1915 and 1916, during which 1.5 million Armenians perished. Vincent Montagne laid a wreath on behalf of the SNE, and we placed white carnations in front of the flame which, day and night, serves as a reminder of their martyrdom.

We then went to Yerablur cemetery, on the heights of Yerevan, where soldiers and volunteers, including students, killed during Azerbaijan’s 44-day war against Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, are buried. Flags fly everywhere, as they do on Maïdan Square in Kiev in Ukraine, and on each grave we can see the face of each of the victims, most of them young people aged 18 to 20.

It was a day full of emotion, history and solidarity.

The next day, on our way to Goris, we stopped at the Vedi dam. This huge reservoir, the largest built since the Soviet period, was built in partnership with the Republic of Armenia thanks to a loan and expertise from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and a grant from the European Union.

VEDI reservoir, Mount Ararat in the distance. Photo Antoine Agoudjian

Olivier Decottignies is very proud of this project presented to us by Audrey from AFD. The Vedi reservoir will irrigate 3,000 hectares of farmland in the Ararat and Armavir plains, making the country and its people more self-sufficient and food sovereign. In front of us, immaculate Mount Ararat rises from the plain, splendid and snow-capped, at 5,165 metres.

The mountain road in this region of the Southern Caucasus is a long one, leading over snowy passes to the sub-prefecture of Goris, the last large town before the Azeri military positions.

We are warmly welcomed by Carmen, director of the SPFA French-speaking centre, which caters for 120 French-speaking pupils throughout the year. A group of women from Artsakh are waiting for us, bearing witness to the suffering of exile and hope. Here, they use sewing machines to make pretty handicrafts with floral motifs, enabling them to get together and provide for their families. Listening to them, I realise just how battered, courageous and enterprising these women are.

It’s also a good time to meet the French pupils and open a parcel we’ve brought along containing books donated by publishers at the request of Vincent Montagne (SNE), with the support of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, which is heavily involved in this province of Syunik. Among these books, there is ‘Céleste ma planète’ by Thimothée Fombelle, ‘Le Journal d’Aura’ by Marie Deplechin and ‘La panthères des neiges’ by Sylvain Tesson, who talks to these young girls who are both sad and happy.

I came here to Goris a year ago, and that’s when the Humanitarian Challenges project was born – to come back with these books. Although the classic authors are well known, contemporary authors were absent from the library. This is now the case in Goris, as it will soon be in the 76 establishments and libraries selected throughout Armenia’s 11 provinces.

At dawn, while it was still dark, we set off with Sylvain Tesson, photographer Antoine Agoudjian and Alix Montagne for Kornidzor, where we met up with Rasmik, a farmer looking after his 6 cows. On the terrace, as day breaks and the cold penetrates us, he points out an Azeri military position 200 metres away! The front line is in front of his house, where his 5 sons live with their wives and children. The village is home to displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsak. Rasmik has decided to stay on his farm. To stay is to resist. His whole life is there, so why run away? A lesson in courageous humanity rooted in a harsh and rugged life.

Ramzik with Sylvain Tesson 200 metres from the Azerbaijan positions

On the way back, we stopped off in the village of Verischen, with its 2,200 inhabitants, including 35 families displaced from Artsakh, a total of 120 people. We visit a displaced family for whom a house has been rehabilitated by the Fonds Arménien de France with David and Chadounts, its local manager. At the town hall, we meet Artak, the mayor. One of his main problems is water, both for drinking and for farming. In 2021, the Azeris took control of the Black Lake upstream, as well as over 1,500 hectares of land. There are 17 water catchments, many of which need to be rehabilitated. This is a project to which Défis Humanitaires can contribute in addition to its books. When asked about the danger, Artak replies calmly, ‘We’re used to the threat. We are worried, but we don’t cry’. Living with them is their raison d’être.

We set off again for Yerevan, reflecting on what we have seen and understood on these roads of solidarity. As Jean-François Deniau said, ‘There is no hope in the silence of others’. We must break the silence, the abandonment, the indifference.

In humanitarian terms, Armenia can be described as an almost forgotten crisis. In September 2023, it hosted more than 100,000 displaced persons driven out of Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, i.e. 3% of the Armenian population, yet it largely escaped the attention of the media and many European countries. Armenia has powerful hostile neighbours, including Azerbaijan, which threatens it and has massive military superiority. Finally, the country is situated on the new geopolitical axis that runs from Ukraine through Moldavia and Georgia to Armenia. It is now on the front line of the new East-West confrontation.

Lastly, the very existence of ethnic and/or national minorities is threatened throughout the world, and this is the case for Armenia and the Armenians, who are a part of humanity with the right to live free and independent lives.

Défis Humanitaires will continue its action, for which the support of your donation will be invaluable.

Thank you for your support.

Alain Boinet.

To read Sylvain Tesson’s report in Le Figaro Magazine, click here.

(1) We would like to thank Sylvain Tesson, writer and patron of this operation, Vincent Montagne, President of the Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE) and its Director, Renaud Lefebvre, along with the entire SNE team, Antoine Agoudjian, photographer, Alix Montagne, Olivier Decottignies, French Ambassador to Armenia, as well as Xavier Richard and Dominique Vaysse. We would also like to thank the SPFA French-speaking centres, which welcome 350 students in their nine centres, with Janik Manissian, Hélène Ohandjanian, Habetnak Khachatryan, Anna Harutyuryan, Carmen Apunts and their teams. Finally, I would like to thank the members of the Défis Humanitaires committee of experts and its donors.

(2) List of publishing houses that we would like to thank for donating 2700 selected books: Albin Michel, Dargaud, Edition des Equateurs, Flammarion, Fleurus, Gallimard, Glénat, Hachette, La Martinière, L’Ecole des Loisirs, Seuil Jeunesse, Editions Paralèlles.

Alain Boinet is President of the association Défis Humanitaires, which publishes the online magazine www.defishumanitaires.com. He is the founder of the humanitarian association Solidarités International, of which he was Managing Director for 35 years. He is also a member of the Groupe de Concertation Humanitaire at the Centre de Crise et de Soutien of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and of the Board of Directors of Solidarités International, the Partenariat Français pour l’Eau (PFE), the Véolia Foundation and the Think Tank (re)sources. He continues to travel to the field (Northeast Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh and Armenia) and to speak out in the media.