Anna Jenderedjian, Supervisor Prof. Anne C. BellowsInstitute of Social Sciences in Agriculture

20 years of transformation: The role of civil society organizations in food security in countries with transition economies with special emphasis on

women’s participation.

Case studies of Armenia and Georgia

June 2011

Name Research project

Timeline: 2010 October – 2013 October

Fieldwork : 2010 November – 2011 May

Policy relevance: governmental organizations, donor agencies, civil society organizations working in the field of food security and safety

Name Research question

What is the nature of civil society organizations (CSO) influence on the state of food security in Armenia and Georgia? - What is the gender profile of these organizations?- What is their role in monitoring of the right to adequate food?- Who are the main beneficiaries of these organizations? What

are the strategies for outreach in particularly in the context of vulnerability?

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious

food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 2001).

• Describe the profile of CSOs by providing information on their main activities, and the character of activities such as “charitable”, “advocacy” or “development”, and their main ideology and worldviews.

• Reveal the gender, educational, and other socio-demographic differences characterizing the CSOs and their leadership.

• Identify the focus of the organizations on food security issues. Describe and assess the activities that are aimed to reshape the dynamics of the food system.

• Identify and compare opportunities and obstacles for CSOs involvement in a rights-based monitoring of the right to adequate food.

Research objectives

Armenia

Food Security: IFPRI Global Hunger Index – Moderately High (9.8)

Number of registered NGOs

3300 registered (ArmStat 2010)

GINI Coefficeint – 33.8 (rank 84) (Human Development Report 2009)

Country Profiles

Georgia

Food Security: IFPRI Global Hunger Index – Moderately Low (5.8)

Non-commercial legal persons

11 486 (GeoStat 2010)

GINI Coefficient – 40.8 (rank 89)

(Human Development Report 2009)

FAO Hunger Index

Methodology

STAGES• Design and implementation of

online survey

• In-depth key informant interviews with the representatives of NGOs

Progress

Questionnaires were sent to the representatives of CSOs in Armenia and Georgia in October 2010 – March 2011.

Relevant CSOs were interviewed in Armenia from April 2011 – May 2011.

Relevant CSOs are being interviewed in Georgia (June 2011- August 2011)

Methodology: online survey Armenia

Sampling: CSOs registered in online databasesNumber of registered CSOs in Armenia according to ArmStat - 3300.

All email addresses of organizations registered in online NGO databases are used to send the emails. Double check on the names/emails of organizations. Each organization - one response.

1 invitation email with 2 reminders were sent during October 2010 – March 2011.

Sampling: CSOs registered in online databasesNumber of registered CSOs in Georgia according to GeoStat- apr. 10000*.

All email addresses of organizations registered in online NGO databases are used to send the emails. Double check on the names/emails of organizations. Each organization - one response.

1 invitation email with 2 reminders were sent during October 2010 – March 2011.

Methodology: online survey Georgia

Online survey: resultsFood Security Perception (availability and access)

Country (Sample Size)

Yes Maybe No

Armenia (105) 53.33% (56) 25.71% (27) 20.95% (22)

Georgia (123) 45.53% (56) 34.15% (42) 20.33% (25)

Food Safety Perception

Country (Sample Size)

Yes Maybe No

Armenia (105) 82.86% (87) 16.19% (17) 0.95% (1)

Georgia (122) 77.05% (94) 19.67% (24) 3.28% (4)

Armenia Georgia

Online survey: results

Georgia Armenia

Online survey: results

Armenia

Organizations’ gender ratio

Georgia

Online survey: results

Armenia

Organizations leadership

Georgia

Online survey: results

Online survey: resultsHuman rights based approaches and right to adequate food

in Armenia

Count

Human rights based approaches by organizations

Totaldo not know

do not work, but I

know

projects/trainings by

orgprimarily

workRight to food by organizations

do not know 7 10 2 15 34

do not work, though I know

1 30 6 23 60

projects/trainings by org

0 0 2 4 6

primarily work 0 0 1 3 4

Total 8 40 11 45 104

Online survey: resultsHuman rights based approaches and right to

adequate food in GeorgiaCount

Human rights based approaches by organizations

Total0 = "do not

know"do not work,

though I know

projects/trainings by

org primarily workRight to food by organizations

do not know 29 9 1 14 53

do not work, though I know

11 36 0 9 56

projects/trainings by org

1 1 1 3 5

primarily work 3 2 1 2 8

Total 43 48 3 28 122

Methodology: interviews

• NGOs who work primarily or currently on the projects related to food security (including nutrition, agriculture and rural development, food safety) will be contacted

• Interviews with organization’s heads and/or managers. Normally between 1.5 and 2 hours.

• Interviews are semi-structured and are based on the clarifying questions based on the completed questionnaire.

• Other organizations are contacted when referred during the interviews to avoid the error of non-response.

• Interviews are recorded and being transcribed (NVivo).

Questions and Comments?

Anna Jenderedjian

jender@uni-hohenheim.de