With the financial support of the Devecyan, Ekserciyan families and Krikor Simsiroglu of Argentina, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is building a buckwheat-processing factory in Bavra, a village in Armenia’s Shirak Region. The project is being implemented in partnership with the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD), through the latter’s buckwheat-cultivation program. Launched in Armenia in 2015, the program provides local farmers with agricultural equipment as well as training. Armenia’s first buckwheat-processing factory was opened on December 6 in the village of Tsovagyugh, with the support of ENPARD.

Bavra’s buckwheat factory will be housed in a former agricultural building. To date, crews have renovated the structure’s walls, ceilings, and floors, and installed a new roof as well as new windows, and gates. In addition, ENPARD is connecting the building to the power grid. The next phase of the project will include the installation of electrical, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and gas systems, exterior and interior decoration, and the construction of an adjacent lab. The project is slated to be completed by the summer of 2017.

Koryun Sumbulyan, the future factory’s manager, says that it will serve cooperatives of close to 430 farmers throughout the regions of Shirak, Lori, and Aragatsotn. “Buckwheat production is a new development in Armenia,” Sumbulyan says. “Our climate is ideal for growing this crop, and already we have reaped our first harvest. I think within a few years we will be able to produce up to 9,000 tons of buckwheat annually at our factory, thereby meeting local demand at affordable prices.”

Bavra is the gateway to Northern Armenia. In the past three years, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has built a community center, a playground, and a sports field in the village, all through the sponsorship of the Devecyan family.