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Armenia

Armenia: Hail Storm DREF operation n° MDRAM001

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CHF 242.501 has been allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS) in delivering immediate assistance to some 4,000 beneficiaries (900 households). Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.

Summary: Between 12 to 17 May 2013, devastating hail storms damaged almost all yield capacity of more than half of the communities in Armavir region, Armenia. According to the rapid assessment reports jointly conducted by the Armenian Ministry of Agriculture, the Armavir Regional Emergency Commission and the ARCS's Armavir Branch, 46 communities and 12,800 households have been affected by the disaster. In terms of the level of the damages, 7,131 households from the total of 12,800 households in the 14 most affected communities have lost 100 per cent of their farms yield capacity. Therefore, these 14 most affected communities were selected to be targeted by this DREF operation. Among the most damaged crops are vineyards with grapes and orchards with apricots. Moreover, there were also a few cases of the storms damaging houses and cattle farms roofs, but the greatest problem lies in the supply with daily necessities. Namely, with the loss of the harvest the communities will not only be unable to repay the debts they have already acquired but they are not in a position to buy goods in the shops on credit any longer. Furthermore, many of the shops have had to close due to lack of customers which means that even if the communities did have some cash there is nowhere to buy even basic products.

The Armenian Red Cross Society, together with its Armavir Regional branch has established a Disaster Response Team (DRT) with the participation of five staff members from HQ and regional branch and three local volunteers from the region. ARCS DRT has conducted several meetings with regional authorities, obtained all available official assessment’s reports and in its turn organized needs assessment in some of the most affected 14 communities. After a meeting with regional government representatives and presenting the ARCS's initiative, DRT has developed criteria for the selection of the beneficiaries from the affected communities. Afterwards, ARCS DRT had an additional meeting with local authorities from the affected 14 communities, and presented to them those criteria, based on which they were assigned to prepare a list of the most affected people/families. Moreover, ARCS DRT has developed a range approach scheme for assistance distribution and prepared a final list of beneficiaries. Additionally, ARCS DRT had a meeting with UN OCHA, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia and agreed to share all information and coordinate their activities in the affected region.

It is important to highlight the very special local business practices, considering the local economy, the context and the people's traditional relations that allow for small markets to sell their products from spring to autumn period mostly without cash, i.e. on credit, being guaranteed that locals will get their money after the harvest and pay back their debts. With the loss of the crops the farmers – apart from not being able to repay their accumulated debt –will not be able to buy any more on credit. Furthermore, according to the heads of communities, small markets in their communities are closing due to people’s financial shortages. The closure of small markets makes people even more vulnerable, because alternative markets in the regional center are far away and they do not have enough cash to pay for the goods anyway. Therefore the Red Cross action aims at food distribution and also at the distribution of hygiene kits. The Armenian National Society considers hygiene kits as an essential part of assistance together with food parcel, realizing that the limited accessibility of local markets, the poor quality and scarcity of drinking water in addition to the population`s cash deficit will negatively influence the sanitary and hygienic conditions of the beneficiaries.

To help the communities to recover from the lost crops, the Government decided that residents of the 46 communities affected by the hail storm for some period will not pay land tax and water tax and will be provided with seeds, fertilizers and diesel fuel for the machines. The loans granted to villagers will be frozen for some time, depending on each case. Additionally, new anti-hail stations will be installed in the villages and will be controlled from one centre. The Government has also initiated the establishment of funds for possible fundraising activities aimed at assisting the affected population of the region.

This operation providing the communities with basic food and hygiene parcels is expected to be implemented over three months, and it will therefore be completed by 31 August 2013; a Final Report will be made available three months after the end of the operation (by 30 November 2013).