“You care for land only when you love it…”

Agricultural sector provides for the largest share of employment in Armenia, where employment constitutes around 34% of the total of employed population. 52% of those are women thus making women important contributors to agricultural development.  As a matter of fact, the largest share of agricultural produce is made by women and they provide the main guarantees in food supply and survival of households in rural areas. At the same time, women’s employment in agriculture has mainly a non-formal character. This becomes a reason for naming women as representatives of the socially unprotected and low-paid segment of the labour market. Very small percentage of women employed in this sector have a legal employment, which is just seasonal. Those working on their land plots are considered to be self-employed and do not pay income tax, which is not regarded as official work experience. On the whole, social guarantees for those employed in the agricultural sector do not exist are not legally defined.

Diligence and love towards land and human life are the keys to success earned by Marine Brutyan who lives in Sevqar village in Tavush marz. Today she is respected and loved by everyone in her village and her family – husband, three daughters and nine grandchildren. “You should put your soul into your work to have good results and tasty products. You care for land only when you love it”. She grew up with these principles and taught them to her daughters and grandchildren.

Marine was mainly specialized in land cultivation. She learnt the secrets of good land cultivation when she was a child and used to help her parents in their family orchard. After graduating from the agricultural college Marine got married and seriously engaged in agricultural activities together with her husband.

Today Marine is the head of processing unit in Sevqar cannery established in 2014 with the support of OxYGen Foundation. The opening of the cannery was a big and important event in the life of Sevqar border village. After all, the main task faced by any rural community is the opening up of at least a few job opportunities for the population. The “Darpas” agricultural cooperative and its “Anushaham” LLC operate adjacent to the plant. The cannery processes ample forest fruits of Sevqar and produces delicious jams and preserves. Thirteen people, all of them Sevqar residents, are employed at the plant. Marine proudly shows the preserves made from blackberries, raspberries, pumpkin, quince, mulberry and fig stored in stock. They will be exported with the support of the OxYGen Foundation.

Some of the attractive features of their produce is that it is home-made, delicious and useful for health. No food coloring supplements or chemical preserving materials are used during the production period. And although difficulties still exist, they do not in any way discourage the staff to continue working with love, dedication and in solidarity.

-See how tasty and appetizing are the jams prepared by fruits grown in our community. That is because fruits are collected right from the woods and processed right away, the cannery staff joyfully say.

Marine said that the plant lacks a car for transporting fruits and berries. It is difficult to transport the collected harvest from seven communities to Sevqar.

-How much harvest can people bring in buckets? The harvest is ample. If fruits and berries are brought in for storage, then transportation in this manner spoils the harvest appearance and quality which leads to bad produce. If we have a car, the harvest will arrive at Sevqar earlier, Marine says. She thankfully adds that the OxYGen Foundation has promised to support them on purchasing a car.

Women working at the cooperative are also willing to make dried fruits, set up a drying facility and purchase walnut trees, because the demand for walnuts in the market is high.  

Marine also wishes that works at the cooperative become full year activities, shifting from its seasonal schedule. People leave the community due to absence of jobs.

-Why should people who have real working potential be forced to leave their village. A lot of women in the village are able to work, but the number of jobs are limited. The technical opportunities of Sevqar cannery are large: it has all the equipment and facilities to produce quality products. The plant has a manufacturing section, a laboratory, a storage, a cloakroom and a toilet.

We would not be able to establish this type of facility and could not even dream of it. The existence of the plant has made our daily routine interesting and full of work. As staff, we feel like one family. As the saying goes, we are not from the same family, but have similar life. We get together at work, combine working with interesting conversations, give each other different pieces of advice and help each other to have hope for future. We go home cheerfully and full of optimism in the evening, Marine says.

It has been two years that Emma Hovhannisyan works at the Sevqar cannery. As Sevqar community has small population, the news on the cannery establishment spread quickly.

– We were very eager to work and I am happy I am part of its staff now. Working in a food industry is such a big responsibility. One should comply with all rules and standards, be attentive. It is also a pleasure to work here. We get relaxed from our daily village routine, communicate with people in the course of work. This is my first employment. I remember getting my first salary. I felt more self-confident because I could take care of my needs on my own and also support the family. There are many problems in our village – road construction issues, lack of water, etc. I hope that our cannery will become more and more powerful through time, new ones will be constructed and all problems will have their solutions.

It has been six months now since Arevik Hovsepyan joined our team in the cannery. She is a pharmacist. “I love my profession. I used to think of going to Yerevan, because there would be more job opportunities there. But here I am in my village. I participated in trainings with duration of seven months on food safety and management in food industry. The knowledge and skills I gained help me in my current work”, Emma says.

The opening of the cannery was an important event in their life. “We live in a border area. Our village faces many issues related to transportation, water, youth employment. Unfortunately, our work is seasonal – six months a year, but I am sure that we will be able to solve the problem of product sales, will have more raw material in stock and start operating the full year with larger staff and increased produce. Then we will be able to also share our produce with the village school and kindergarten, as well as undertake solutions of certain social issues.