Armenia Markets 4 Meghri Inception phase (January – September 2010) Livelihoods Assessment Report Bern/Yerevan, October 2010 This project is funded by SDC and implemented by Intercooperation and Shen. M4Meghri Livelihoods Assessment Report Table of Contents 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Household typology .................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Meghri region .............................................................................................................. 7 1.3.1 Geography ............................................................................................................ 7 1.3.2 Demographics ...................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Horticulture in Meghri region ................................................................................... 10 2 Context of the livelihoods system ................................................................................... 11 2.1 Risks and vulnerability ............................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Risks of natural disasters ................................................................................... 11 2.1.2 Possible impact of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict .................................................. 11 2.1.3 Political and economic developments in the country/region ........................... 11 2.2 Policies, institutions, organisations and processes ................................................... 12 2.3 Opportunities ............................................................................................................ 13 2.3.1 Goods market ..................................................................................................... 13 2.3.2 Mobility .............................................................................................................. 14 2.3.3 Education ........................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Services ...................................................................................................................... 15 2.4.1 Access to advisory and extension services ........................................................ 15 2.4.2 Access to agroinput services .............................................................................. 16 2.4.3 Access to financial services ................................................................................ 17 3 Assets of a livelihoods system ......................................................................................... 19 3.1 Political assets ........................................................................................................... 19 3.1.1 Political power ................................................................................................... 19 3.1.2 Participation in elections ................................................................................... 19 3.1.3 Participation in local NGOs ................................................................................ 20 3.2 Human assets ............................................................................................................ 20 3.2.1 Education ........................................................................................................... 20 3.2.2 Nutrition ............................................................................................................. 21 3.2.3 Public health ...................................................................................................... 22 3.3 Natural assets ............................................................................................................ 24 3.3.1 Land tenure ........................................................................................................ 24 Intercooperation - Shen October 2010 2 M4Meghri Livelihoods Assessment Report 3.3.2 Livestock, poultry and apiculture....................................................................... 31 3.3.3 Water resources (irrigation) .............................................................................. 33 3.4 Financial assets .......................................................................................................... 34 3.4.1 Household general income trends ..................................................................... 34 3.4.2 Agricultural revenues ......................................................................................... 37 3.4.3 Pension and remittances ................................................................................... 40 3.4.4 Debt capital (bank loans) ................................................................................... 40 3.5 Physical assets ........................................................................................................... 40 3.5.1 Housing .............................................................................................................. 40 3.5.2 Vehicles & agrimachinery .................................................................................. 41 3.5.3 Electricity and gas supply ................................................................................... 42 3.5.4 Potable water ..................................................................................................... 42 3.5.5 Telecommunication ........................................................................................... 43 3.6 Social assets ............................................................................................................... 43 3.6.1 Intrahousehold relationship .............................................................................. 43 3.6.2 Intracommunity cooperation ............................................................................. 44 3.6.3 Formal associations............................................................................................ 44 4 Strategy development and decision-making in a livelihoods .......................................... 45 4.1 Subsistence farming .................................................................................................. 45 4.2 Non-agricultural paid jobs ......................................................................................... 45 4.3 Commercial farming (horticulture) ........................................................................... 45 5 Conclusions and recommendations ................................................................................. 47 Intercooperation - Shen October 2010 3 M4Meghri Livelihoods Assessment Report 1 Introduction A livelihoods assessment uses a holistic framework for analysing the factors that influence a specific group of people in fulfilling their livelihoods . This report presents the Livelihoods Assessment of households in Meghri region conducted from Dec 2009 to Feb 2010 during the inception phase of the “Markets for Meghri” Rural Development project. “Markets for Meghri project” aims at increasing production and access to markets and thereby generating increased and sustainable income for producers of specific fruits in the horticulture sector in Meghri. The objectives of this assessment were: . To understand the different livelihoods strategies of households in Meghri . To present a typology of Meghri households . To understand the role of horticulture in the livelihoods of Meghri households . To contribute to the baseline for monitoring the outcomes of the project against the starting situation 1.1 Methodology The assessment was designed and conducted according to the SARD (Systemic Approach to Rural Development) methodology. The designed questionnaire covered major livelihoods aspects such as human, social, natural, physical, financial and political capital, access to a variety of services, as well as aspects of the agricultural/horticultural production system (including access to markets). According to an approved survey methodology1 (which assures representativeness of obtained data) the region’s communities have been grouped into 3 groups where sampling has been done separately. In the first group of 5 communities, where the number of per community households (HH) does not exceed 100, all the HHs were interviewed; in the next group (6 communities having 100-200 HHs) every second household was interviewed; and in 2 towns – every 15th household. As a result it was planned to interview 663 HHs; 620 HHs were effectively surveyed (17% of all households). 63% of respondents were male and 37% female. Table 1 Survey sampling № Community No of HHs per community Sample Coverage % 1 Agarak 1,552 93 6% 2 Meghri 1380 83 6% 3 Lehvaz 171 86 50% 1 The selection of respondents is done as following. The interviewer knocked the door: If it was an adult, the interviewer explained the purpose of his/her visit and asked who would answer the questions. If it was a child or teenager who opened the door, the interviewer asked if there was an adult in the house; if yes, the interviewer explained to the adult member of the family the purpose of his visit and asked who would answer the questions. If there was no adult in the house, the interviewer came