The discussion focused on the possibilities of scientific cooperation and exchange between the Institute in Halle and research institutions and universities in Armenia. His Excellency the Ambassador and Thomas Glauben saw interesting perspectives for future cooperation, for instance on issues of efficiency in agricultural production, the country's integration into the international agricultural markets, on risk management for extreme weather events, and on the digitalization of value chains. IAMO conducts basic and applied research on these topics. In 2020, for example, IAMO researchers and other authors edited a special issue of the journal Caucasus Analytical Digest, which examined, among other things, the diversification of Armenia's agricultural trade and the country's wine sector.
The meeting concluded with an agreement to sign a memorandum of understanding next year to reaffirm joint work with concrete actions.
The Republic of Armenia is a landlocked country in Southwest Asia between the Black and Caspian Seas and is surrounded by Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan and Turkey. The agricultural sector accounted for 12.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2020 and employs about a quarter of the population of nearly three million. Major exports include tobacco, spirits, and fruits and vegetables, which are shipped mainly to Russia and Gulf countries. In the 1990s, much of the agricultural land was privatized and many family farms emerged, which cultivate an average of 0.5 to 1 hectare. Today, about 60 percent of Armenia's nearly 30,000 square kilometers are in agricultural use.
