One third of Armenians malnourished

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

A new survey has revealed that about 30 percent of Armenians are malnourished, as they are living under the poverty threshold.

The survey "Aspects of Armenia's food security" was conducted by the non-governmental organization Competitive Society in an effort to study the current situation of the population's nutrition. It was carried out with the support of Oxfam International, the European Union and Business Support Center organization.

Poverty is the most painful problem of Armenia as its population is recognized as one of the poorest one in the world. The government fails to cope with the widespread poverty, despite pressing ahead with various social and economic projects. Nearly one third of Armenian residents are far from the normal life. In other words, they lack enough money to buy at least their daily intake.

The minimum consumption basket accepted worldwide includes expenses for clothing, public services and food. The survey disclosed that 30 percent of Armenians can cover only expenses for minimum daily nutrition. One third of the population are unable to purchase the daily 460 grams of bread and cereals, 200 grams of vegetables, 145 grams of potatoes, as well as 25 grams of sugar and 50 grams of meat and other products as described in the World Bank's poverty line.

Armenian government is unable to cope with the deepening poverty in the country. The country is struggling with a skyrocketing emigration trend, surging unemployment and expanding insolvency on the background of a tough economic crisis. The economic growth in the country is only 3.3 percent, which is under the government's expectations. Nearly 19 percent of the residents in Armenia are unemployed and unable to earn their life.

Poverty is an overwhelming trend in Armenia's rural and remote regions. The country's poorest people live in its second largest city Gyumri. About 1,200 residents in the city don't have a roof over their heads. The government has deliberately altered the figure to 430 and promised to give houses to only 190 of them.

Head of the parliamentary fraction Armenian National Congress, Levon Zurabyan, said the homeless people in Gyumri are living in hard conditions. "The authorities insist that Gyumri is not a poor region. I think, not only Gyumri, but also the whole country are in the same situation, " Zurabyan noted.

Hope dies last, but the people's hope in Armenia has died a long time ago. The contrasting fashion between the government's interests and residents' desire blocks to see the light at the end of the tunnel. "Every cloud has a silver lining" they say, but the dark clouds over the former Soviet state's sky not only promise no benefit to the people, but also back the evil to win over the good.

/AzerNews/