On December 8th, 2011,“Heifer International Georgia”  represented by its Director George Murvanidze  and Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development (CARD) Foundation represented by its Deputy Director Sevak Manukyan signed a Sub-Grant Agreement to jointly implement a project titled “Animal Health Management in Cross Border Areas of Armenia and Georgia” funded by the Austrian Development Agency.

Geographically, the project will focus on Armenian and Georgian bordering regions: Shirak and Lori marzes in Armenia and Samtskhe‐Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli provinces inGeorgia. The project will aim at improving the animal husbandry and health control practices,   herd management strategies and prevention of trans-boundary diseases in the target areas through development of veterinary service capacities.

Within the framework of the project, nearly 60 veterinarians will be trained by foreign experts and local high-level specialists and will provide consultancy and veterinary services to farmers of the target regions.

Two Veterinary Health Care Service Centers will be established in Azatan community of Shirak region and Stepanavan community of Lori region. The centers will provide a range of services to rural population. With the support of Heifer International Armenia, 4000 doses of Artificial Insemination of the cows will be carried out in bordering regions through the application of World Wide Sires bovine semen and techniques, as well as other assistance through the provision of cows, and equipment/tools for farmers and veterinarians.

During the project implementation, with participation of state, public and private sectors of the two countries, joint workshops and conferences will be organized to conduct comprehensive assessment of problems in animal health sector and promote solutions to current challenges in the sector.

Close cooperation will be developed between the Ministries of Agriculture of Armenia and Georgia, which will play a significant role for successful implementation of the project, as well as for strengthening the partnership between state and private sectors.

Among the honorary guests at the event present were Alexander Bohr from ADA South Caucasus Office, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Armen Poghosyan and Head of the Department of the Local Self-Government Ashot Giloyan from the Ministry of Territorial Administration.

“I want to express my thanks to Austrian Development Agency and the Government of Austria for funding this very important project, and of course many thanks to CARD Foundation for selecting Heifer Georgia International as an implementing partner. The outcomes of this project will be twofold: the obvious one is the control of trans-boundary animal diseases and the second is the establishment of business contacts between the veterinarians of the either side of the Border. I wish all of us success in implementation of this project”, said George Murvanidze.