“THREATS TO FOOD SECURITY” SEMINAR AT “AMBERD” RESEARCH CENTER

Scientific  seminar  entitled  “Threats to  Food  Security”  took  place  today within  the  framework  of  “National Security Researches”  Programat  “AMBERD”  Research  Center,  which was  attended  by  the  Vice-Rector  of  Science  and  International  Relations  Gagik  Vardanyan,  collaborators   of  “AMBERD” Research  Center,  representatives  of the  University’s   administrative  staff.

Gagik  Vardanyan, welcoming the  guest,  mentioned  that the  seminar  was  the   base  of  scientific session  and one  of  the  best  ways  to  spread knowledge.  “Our  researches  aim  to  present  proposals   to  solve  socio-economic  problems  in our  country”;  highlighted  the  Vice-Rector.

The  speaker  of  the  Seminar, Doctor  in Economics, Professor,  the  Director  of  “AMBERD”  Research  Center  Samvel  Avetisyan  presented  the  topic  and  emphasized  its  importance  and  meaning  on the  example  of  Lord’s  prayer.  He  mentioned  that  the term of  food  security  was  introduced in the last  century  and  now  it is an important  part  of  the  economy.

The  Professor  presented   by  slides  a  number  of  issues  regarding  the  topic   and  spoke  about  them  separately. The   forms,  standards , threats (internal, external) of  food  security, the  ways  of  overcoming  them  and  other  essential themes  were  spoken about,   movement  of the  world’s  population, dynamics  of  food  security,   consumption  of  the  food  in  different regions, the  structure  of  the  RA GDP in 2010, 2011 and  other  issues  were  presented  by  diagrams.

In the interview with ASUE Media and Public Relations Division, Samvel Avetisyan outlined that, “The assessment of threats of food security and the development of its prevention system have key importance for Armenia as the dependence from foreign markets is still considerable, the region is unstable and it is fraught with various conflicts that might always threaten the dynamic supply of food”.

The professor  added: “Let’s take the example of the road closing due to Georgian-Ossetian conflict in summer of 2008 when Armenia had to promptly import flour from Iran. The absence of logistic system led to the useless waste of money and due to the absence of conditions of proper storage the flour was spoiled. It means that the absence of state backup becomes a serious menace and the most important solution is innovative development of agricultural area and enhancing of competitiveness. In the result of this Armenia will have high level of the self-sufficiency”.

 At the end of the seminar it was noted that the expected results of study will be introduced in the publication of article and series. The discussion of the topic was really heated and the participants asked lots of questions.

ASUE  Media  and  Public  Relations  Division