In Artsakh, People are Specifically Pursuing the Path of Food Security. This is the Victory of Any State. Sofia Hovsepyan

Food security is the victory of any state. This was stated by Sofia Hovsepyan, a member of the "My Step" faction, on her Facebook page.

“I have returned from Artsakh with great enthusiasm: to put it mildly, ‘I have taken a breath’. I met with the Minister of Agriculture, Ashot Bakhshetyan, as I had heard about the radical and important work being done in the agricultural sector. Well, I had known Mr. Bakhshetyan for a long time (since the heated days of April 2016) and met him to congratulate him and to understand what steps are being taken.

The logic of the discussion was this: ‘If you want to create an independent and strong state, then develop agriculture.’ Yes, people are specifically pursuing the path of food security. I am confident that as a result of their activities, our food security issue will also be resolved. But my dream is that one day all our regions will take care of the country's food security issue and that it will not be exclusively the responsibility of Artsakh.

A number of steps are being taken to ensure that farmers have the motivation to engage in large-scale agriculture, and the biggest supporter, as an alternative to the banking system, will also be the state-run fund. This year we were convinced that only a small percentage of 0% agricultural loans reached farmers and real beneficiaries, as banks consider it risky to invest in agriculture, while the state fund can support farmers with various tools that are being intensively developed and quickly put into operation.

A clear price has been set for grain procurement, and the farmer initially knows that the grain harvest must be sold at a specific price. If they have procurement issues, they can also sell it independently if they can secure a market. This may not be valued correctly by many, but it is a guarantee for the farmer—state guarantee.

The monopoly has disappeared, and farmers can buy seeds and any agricultural products from whoever they want, and the state will help farmers ensure safe transportation. In short, they have definitively stood by the farmer's side and are developing agriculture. If I had stayed a few more days, I might have left everything and engaged in agriculture, but since I can do that later, I decided to come back and understand why the implementation of this model is delayed with us, as I know the ministry was discussing this issue and it was quite clear that there was light at the end of the tunnel. I hope it won't be delayed much longer.

Food security is the victory of any state. This is my opinion; I might be mistaken, but my grandfather used to say, ‘the family that eats will pick the bread from the fertile soil.’ Our nation that harvests bread from the soil needs agricultural guarantees,” she wrote.