In March, EcoLur team visited Achajur village in Armenia’s Tavush Region and met with active residents and local government representatives. A training session was held on “Climate Risks and Opportunities for Energy Development in Tavush Region” when climate and energy policies were introduced alongside discussions on how to localize these policies at the community level.
The first historical mentions of Achajur date back to the 16th century. The village is rich in monasteries, churches, and khachkars (cross-stones). Its main tourist attraction is the 12th-century Makaravanq Monastery, located 7 kilometers away on a forested hilltop.
Achajur’s temperate climate is favorable for gardening, grain cultivation, vegetable growing, and pig farming. However, agriculture is no longer a priority for most villagers due to insufficient irrigation water.
Residents emphasized that without irrigation, agriculture cannot thrive, and without agriculture, rural life gradually withers. “If a farmer has no irrigation water, you might as well say the village doesn’t exist. Most of our land is arid; even when we are going to cultivate the soil, there’s no water,” they said.
Last year, as part of a government co-financing (subvention) program, irrigation water was diverted from the Aghstev River and brought as far as the road leading to Makaravanq.
“We’ve split the village into two zones. One zone gets drinking water one day, and the other on the next. The water comes from the mountains; we have 21 spring sources,” administrative Head of Achajur Karen Ghaltakhchyan noted.
He added that with support from the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation, they are currently applying for subvention funding to fully renovate the village’s external drinking water network. “Once that’s done, we’ll move on to the internal network, which stretches 55 km,” he said. “We’re also developing a project for irrigation in the area known as ‘Old Achajur,’ where we plan to build a reservoir with a capacity of 9,000 to 12,000 cubic meters. We have access to river water, and experts have already visited and assessed the site.”
If the reservoir is built, Achajur would receive round-the-clock water supply. Currently, residents are not charged for water, but once the subvention program is implemented, water meters will be installed. “The municipality covers all water expenses. It’s good that the residents aren’t burdened, but once the meters are in, they’ll need to pay for the water they use,” Ghaltakhchyan noted.
Villagers are ready to pay for water—if they can rely on daily access. “Let’s first see whether it’s enough for daily use, then we’ll talk about payment,” they outlined.
The working-age population mainly earns income through wage labor, seasonal work abroad, and to a lesser extent, small-scale farming near their homes. “Every year, around 1,000 men leave the village,” Karen Ghaltakhchyan said.
The discussion also touched on the need to establish agricultural cooperatives. Rosa Julhakyan, an expert from EcoLur Informational NGO, noted that Armenia’s national strategies and the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) encourage the formation of rural cooperatives. However, residents mentioned that scepticism about cooperatives-primarily due to a lack of information-prevents their establishment. Additionally, cooperatives are often underestimated in terms of effectiveness, and many residents lack motivation to engage.
“It all comes down to how motivated a person is and whether they’re willing to follow through on the idea… People have ideas. They might even have money to start something, but it’s extremely difficult to sell their products, which iss a major issue, as we aren’t competitive. Livestock farming and land cultivation are tough... Most people keep animals for their own needs. Large-scale livestock farmers are few-maybe 10 people who each raise 60-70 animals… Modern life and new technologies have distanced villagers from agriculture. Community life has changed dramatically over time. The shared goals and collective vision that existed during the kolkhoz era are gone,” the residents noted.
Residents also highlighted the climate risks unique to Achajur: abrupt weather changes, floods, droughts, landslides, and hail-now more frequent and significantly damaging to crop yields. “By early spring, our trees are already in bloom, and when the frosts hit, we lose the entire harvest… Last year, flooding from heavy rainfall destroyed walls in the village… We were declared a disaster zone. The compensation still hasn’t come,” they said.
As a forest-adjacent village, forest management is crucial for Achajur. According to residents, illegal logging has dropped significantly in recent years.
“Trees are no longer being cut down. There’s hardly any leftover wood, and what we do get mostly comes from windfall. Each year, we submit requests to the forestry department for about 8,000-10,000 cubic meters of wood waste. This year, it was much less, and we gave it only to low-income families. The waste wood is 25 kilometers from the village, up in the mountains. But the beneficiaries don’t have the means to transport it. No one was able to bring it down. Most people in the village use gas now,” Ghaltakhchyan said.
The village is almost fully connected to the gas grid. Since last year, some residents have also begun using solar energy, though concerns remain about its efficiency and return on investment. “The initial investment is very high… The batteries are expensive. They say you recover your costs in six years, but people are sceptical. The question is: how well will this system perform in our area? In a few years, if technology improves and prices drop, many more will switch to solar,” residents said.
A solar panel system has already been installed on the village kindergarten, and plans are underway to add one to the roof of the cultural center.
EcoLur expert Rosa Julhakyan presented a model for creating a community solar station that would meet the community’s needs and expenses. “The community becomes a shareholder and uses the electricity it generates itself -eliminating costs and selling the surplus to the grid,” she explained.
Villagers also discussed other alternative energy options: “We could make briquettes from waste—this would create jobs and offer an alternative energy source. You can also get biogas from manure. If we can implement something like that, livestock farming would also develop.”
May 02, 2025 at 10:31