Organic farming, collective action, peasants, Armenia

Armenia is a landlocked country which gained its independence about 24 years ago. A big portion of population (44.2%) is still involved in agriculture and mostly consists of smallholder farmers. More than 20% of Armenias GDP comes from agriculture. The government considers organic agriculture as a priority area in the countrys agro-food policy as well as part of sustainable development. However, organic farming is still on its early stages of development just like in other Eastern European, Caucasian and Central Asian countries. Yet, the country already has an organic certification body which is recognized both in the US and the EU, organic supermarket in the capital city and a growing demand for organic products. Those smallholder farmers and especially the organic producers face difficulties accessing markets, gathering necessary information, meeting quality control and food safety requirements, certifying their production as organic or fair trade, accessing credits and so on. Researchers believe that smallholder agriculture can play an important role in reducing global poverty as a vast number of worlds poor are rural households that are involved in agriculture. Armenian smallholders are no exception and they face most of the same challenges and problems that peasants from other parts of the world do. This paper studies one of the ways that these challenges can be overcome, that is, collective action which has proved to be successful in many cases. Although collective action can be very useful and helpful for smallholder farmers and there is even a small successful example from the organic sector in Armenia, it is not a panacea. Organizing a collective action is not an easy task and its success depends on many factors such as small group size, clearly defined boundaries, shared norms, past successful experiences and others.

• United Nations Environment Programme, 2011. Organic Agriculture: A step towards the Green Economy in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia region, Geneva: UNEP.
• Agrawal, A., 2001. Common property institutions and sustainable governance of resources. World Development, p. 1649–1672.
• Barham, J. & Chitemi, C., 2009. Collective action initiatives to improve marketing performance: Lessons from farmer groups in Tanzania. Food Policy, pp. 53-59.
• CIA, 2014. The World Factbook: Armenia. [Online]
• Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/am.html
• [Accessed 28 04 2015].
• Darbinyan, N., 2011. Organic Agriculture in Armenia, Yerevan: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL & IFOAM-Organics International.
• Devaux, A. et al., 2009. Collective action for market chain innovation in the Andes. Food Policy, pp. 31-38.
• EconomyWatch Content, 2010. World Economy: Armenia. [Online] Available at:
•  http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/armenia/export-import.html
• [Accessed 28 04 2015].
• Global SPC , 2014. Food Processing Guide 2014 Armenia. [Online] Available at:
• http://www.globalspc.am/download/Food_Processing_Guide_2014_web.pdf
• [Accessed 04 05 2015].
• Grigoryan, A., Hakhnazaryan, T. & Afranaa Kwapong, N., 2008. Farmers Organization in the development of Agriculture in the South Caucasus: Case of Armenia. Riva del Garda, ICA Research Conference.
• Grigoryan, A. & Urutyan, V., 2006. Organic farming and consumer behavior towards organic produce in a transition country: Case of Armenia, Yerevan: International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education.
• Gulati, A., Minot, N. W., Delgado, C. & Bora, S., 2007. Growth in high-value agriculture in Asia and the emergence of vertical links with farmers. In: Global supply chains, standards and the poor : how the globalization of food systems and standards affects rural development and poverty. Wallingford: CABI, pp. 91-108.
• Hellin, J., Lundy, M. & Meijer, M., 2009. Farmer organization, collective action and market access in Meso-America. Food Policy, pp. 16-22.
• Huang, C. L., & Lin, B.-H. (2007). A hedonic analysis of fresh tomato prices among regional markets. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 29(4), 783-800.
• Kaganzi, E., Ferris, S., Barham, J. & Abenakyo, A., 2009. Sustaining linkages to high value markets through collective action in Uganda. Food Policy, pp. 23-30.
• Knickel, K., Zerger, C., Jahn, G. & Renting, H., 2008. Limiting and Enabling Factors of Collective Farmers' Marketing Initiatives: Results of a Comparative Analysis of the Situation and Trends in 10 European Countries. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 3(2//3), pp. 247-269.
• Koelen, M. & Das, E., 2002. Social learning: a construction of reality. In: . C. Leeuwis & R. Pyburn, eds. Wheelbarrows Full of Frogs: Social Learning in Rural Resource Management. Assen: Koninklijke Van Gorcum, p. 437–446.
• Kruijssen, F., Keizer, M. & Giuliani, A., 2009. Collective action for small-scale producers of agricultural biodiversity products. Food Policy, pp. 46-52.
• Markelova, H., Meinzen-Dick, R., Hellin, J. & Dohrn, S., 2009. Collective action for smallholder market access. Food Policy, pp. 1-7.
• McCarthy, N., 2004. Collective action and property rights for sustainable development. Local-level public goods and collective action.. 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture and the Environment..
• Narrod, C. et al., 2009. Public–private partnerships and collective action in high value fruit and vegetable supply chains. Food Policy, pp. 8-15.
• Poulton, C., Dorward, A. & Kydd, J., 2010. The Future of Small Farms: New Directions for Services, Institutions, and Intermediation. World Development, 38(10), p. 1453–1526.
• Sanjuán, A. I., Sánchez, M., Gil, J. M., Gracia, A., & Soler, F. (2003). Brakes to organic market enlargement in Spain: consumers’ and retailers’ attitudes and willingness to pay. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 27(2), 134-144.
• SHEN NGO, 2012. Milestones of organic agriculture in Armenia, Yerevan: SHEN NGO.
• Shiferaw, B., Obare, G. & Muricho, G., 2008. Rural market imperfections and the role of institutions in collective action to improve markets for the poor. Natural Resource Forum, pp. 25-38.
• Stockbridge, M. et al., 2003. Farmer Organizations for Market Access: Learning from Success, London: University of London.
• Urutyan, V., Yeritsyan, A. & Mnatsakanyan, H., 2015. Country Report: Armenia, s.l.: Agricistrade.
• Weatherspoon, D. D. & Reardon, T., 2003. The Rise of Supermarkets in Africa: Implications for Agrifood Systems and the Rural Poor. Development Policy Review, May, 21(3), p. 333–355.
• Weatherspoon, D. & Reardon, T., 2003. The rise of supermarkets in Africa: implications for agrifood systems and the rural poor. Development Policy Review, pp. 333-355.