Arus Ghazaryan was the first woman in the Deghdzavan community of Tavush Marz who four years ago made a decision to establish her own business and produce homemade preserves in factory conditions. At the most difficult stage of establishing a business, the Austrian Development Agency came to the aid of the entrepreneur with Green Agriculture Initiative in Armenia (EU-GAIA) project co-financed by the European Union and the Austrian Development Cooperation.
The decision of the Armenian language and literature teacher to engage in business was accepted by the family with confidence, but by the fellow villagers, with skepticism. However, today the fellow villagers are proud of both the woman entrepreneur and the existence of the local production facility.
"For the first time, a production facility was opened in the village, and the name Deghdzavan is also mentioned when mentioning our company on various occasions," says Arus Ghazaryan.
Within the framework of the EU-GAIA project, Arus Ghazaryan received as a support: a solar system, a production autoclave, a cooking pot and a packaging machine.
Thanks to the continuous support of the European Union and the Austrian Development Agency, the young female entrepreneur has also acquired new skills and knowledge, participated in various expos and events, as well as received an exclusive opportunity for branding...
As a result, today, Arus has a stable production, producing eight types of stewed fruit, three types of jam, as well as canned olives under the Hayq food brand. Only last year she procured and canned one ton of olives, this year she intends to increase it to 3-4 tons. For future, it is planned to use the waste obtained in the canning process as secondary raw material and continue the production chain with the production of olive oil.
In a broader vision, the company plans to deal with the processing of other fruit pits in order to obtain essential oils, for which they will cooperate with wine-vodka distillers of three northern marzes: Lori, Tavush, and Shirak.
In order to obtain quality products compatible with green agriculture, Arus Ghazaryan, who is cooperating with a local farmers, urges fellow villagers to get the fruit naturally and not to use various chemical additives in the processing process. She says that her exhortation and explanatory works are already bearing fruit, as a result of which she has the opportunity to stock up on healthy food and offer quality products to the customer.
"If we can avoid using additives and get healthy food, why not?" she says.
A female entrepreneur who overcame the most difficult years of establishing a business tries to inspire other women by her example. She says that women are afraid that they may not succeed. In such cases, her reaction is one, "if I could, surely you can too."
Full text in Armenian
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About EU-GAIA project
The EU Green Agriculture Initiative (EU-GAIA) is currently the largest agricultural project in Armenia, funded by the European Union (EU) and co-financed by the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) ). The project is implemented by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The project government counterpart is the RA Ministry of Economy. The Project is aimed at facilitating the development of sustainable, inclusive, innovative and market-oriented agribusinesses․
