Project 07fau-4969

07fau-4969 Organizational Strengthening of FAA-ULE Member Farmer's Organizations

budget	€ 70.809,27	status	execution
start date	01-07-2007	date end	31-12-2008
location	Yerevan	country	armenia
financer	Agriterra
executor	Federation of Agricultural Associations- Union of Legal Entities	intervention level	national
Programmes	\| IFAP 03: Enhance capacity of farmers' organisations \| work area 03: Internal organisational strengthening (OS) \|
description	The idea of proposed project is to enhance capacity of FAA member farmers’ organizations in terms of 1) business management of cooperatives and other revenue-generating activities, 2) use of information and communication technology and 3) strenghthening FO’s representation capacity and analysis of organizational strengths and weaknesses.
description	The idea of proposed project is to enhance capacity of FAA member farmers’ organizations in terms of 1) business management of cooperatives and other revenue-generating activities, 2) use of information and communication technology and 3) strenghthening FO’s representation capacity and analysis of organizational strengths and weaknesses. (...less...)
results & observations	The FAA member farmers’ organizations are being strengthened with regard to the following: degree of organization, member participation, representation, professional capacity, strategic potential and gender. The organisation has appointed a new director, through a General Assembly meeting with the members. Several board meetings have been organised since. Renovation of 16 offices (...more...)
final results & observations	The FAA member farmers’ organizations are being strengthened with regard to the following: degree of organization, member participation, representation, professional capacity, strategic potential and gender. The organisation has appointed a new director, through a General Assembly meeting with the members. Several board meetings have been organised since. Renovation of 16 offices of FOs lead to appropriate working environment and facilities for FO managers and members. The offices play a role as resource centers and are the meeting points of the farmers, managers, extension people, and trainers. The internal communication of the organisation has been improved: (1) The FAA improved its web site and uploads periodically news and up to date information about its activities. At this stage FAA included the English version of all information on its web site: www.faa-ule.am. (2) Since the start of the project the FAA created and issued 6 monthly newsletters called “Agrinfo”. In these issues the FAA informs its member FOs and farmers about its activities and provides up to date information. Women’s participation in FO decision-making and other projects has increased significantly. The number of women members has increased at FO level. Non member women farmers’ interest is increasing to participate in the training sessions. The office spaces also enable non member women farmers to participate in the FO women initiative group discussion processes and initiative developments in regard to rural entrepreneurship. (...less...)
specialisms	\| Financial management \| Information & communication technology \| Internal organisational strengthening \| Training \|

	APPLICATION
	APPLICATION

	DEFINITION
	DEFINITION

	EXECUTION
	EXECUTION

	RESULTS
	RESULTS

	PROGRESS
	PROGRESS

	RELATIONS
	RELATIONS

PROPOSAL

Agri-agency	Own contribution executor	Other parties	Total requested budget
Agriterra	FAA-ULE
€ 0,00 + € 0,00	€ 0,00	€ 0,00	€ 198.269,00

FAA-ULE is an umbrella organization of 19 Armenian Farmers’ Organisations covering 1200 farmers from which 100 are women. The farmers’ organisation represents the Federation at local or regional level. FAA-ULE was established in 2001. FAA-ULE is a member of IFAP since 2006.

With this proposal FAA-ULE aims to strengthen Farmers Organisations (FO) in resolving their internal obstacles, which are related to organizational weaknesses. FAA and its member FOs still have poor internal management within the organization. There is a lack of long term view of the FO operations combined with lack of managerial skills among the personnel and at different levels of management, lack of entrepreneurial actions among the FOs, lack of specializations in managing agricultural divisions, etc. The member farmer organizations have weak capacities to empower farmers in operating on the market. They lack market orientation knowledge, required research techniques and skills that are needed to develop short and long-term strategic plans and they lack skills regarding the implementation in order to achieve sustainable growth.

The suggested actions
• Development of office infrastructure and organizational capacities of FAA member farmers’ organizations, which is directly related to better performance and a good rate of farmers participation;
• Enhance the use of information technology and communication devices of member Farmers’ Organizations (two computers per FO, printer, fax, telephone, website development, ;
• Empower Women Farmers, greater involvement of women farmers in decision making, cooperative management, etc;
• Development of training modules and facilities, cooperative principles and management, strategic planning and SWOT analysis, financial management, etc.

GOALS

This project is going to reach the fulfillment of its goals through the following objectives.
a To help member Farmers’ Organizations on the way of becoming economic producer organizations (EPO).
b.To enhance member FOs knowledge in the sphere of modern office and other management principles.
c. To build the capacity for communication at the member FOs. Member FOs should incorporate advanced technologies in their day-to-day business activities. Advanced technologies, such as fax, Internet and e-mail and improved communication skills will help FAA member FOs to be linked together into a national network.
d. To help member farmers to realize a status of farmer-entrepreneurs. An appropriate office environment and relevant trainings will not only facilitate and further quicken their operations but will also fasten the image of entrepreneur status they are striving for. In addition, appropriate internal environment will promote an establishment of necessary business and managerial ethics.
e. To empower member women farmers and involve them in a decision-making activities. The role of women is essential in rural development. Around 42 percent of employed people in agriculture are female. Employed rural women and their empowerment should deserve a specific attention.
f. To help FAA staff to develop training modules in Cooperative Principles and Management, Strategic Planning and SWOT Analysis, Organizational Leadership, Financial Management and Computer Applications in Agriculture/Agribusiness. To conduct “FinBase” seminars for all FAA member Farmers’ Organizations.
g. To help FOs to increase their financial sustainability. FO leaders and decision makers should design sustainable programs to generate income and resources for their organizations and to move closer to financial sustainability

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