The Center for Agricultural Business (CAB) will continue to serve this year as a key player in a multi-million dollar U.S. aid project offering economic assistance and training to the country of Armenia.

The $5 million dollar overall project involves agricultural economics specialists from California State University, Fresno, as well as from educational institutions and agencies all over the United States, reported John Shields, assistant director for the Fresno State project.

This is the second year that faculty from the Department of Agricultural Economics have served on the resource team, Shields said. Fresno State’s main charge in the project has been to work with the Armenian Agricultural Academy (AAA), assisting that institution in modernizing curriculum, restructuring administrative policies, and updating long-term strategic plans.

The AAA is equivalent to a college of agriculture in the United States, Shields said. It offers post-secondary education and training in agriculture and agribusiness.

The transition from a centrally controlled economy to a market-based one has been difficult for the people in all the countries that once were part of the former Soviet Union, Shields explained. Economic struggles in Armenia as well as in other new sovereign countries in Asia have prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to seek ways to invest in those economies.

The Armenia project is just one of several that involve U.S. expertise being shared in Asia. Fresno State’s close ties to the Armenian community in Fresno, along with its strong agricultural program, made it a logical choice to assist with development in Armenia, Shields said.

Agricultural economics professor William Rice is director of the Fresno State project.

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CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE - CATI
College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
California State University, Fresno