A sample of "Baden-Baden", which is so lacking in the Nakhchivan state program

By the decree of President Ilham Aliyev dated June 5, 2023, the "State Program of socio-economic development of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic for 2023-2027" was approved (¹). The action plan for the implementation of this program provides for the "Development of production and processing of agricultural products" as one of the priorities. The plan outlines measures that will be implemented by 2027 ([1]):

1. Development of crop production, including horticulture, viticulture and melon growing. Preliminary results: Diagnostics of the current state and development opportunities of these industries in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR), preparation of proposals on priority sub-sectors and support measures based on the results of diagnostics. Interim result: Implementation of support measures related to the development of relevant industries. Final results: The growth of production in agriculture.

2. Development of animal husbandry and beekeeping. Preliminary results: Diagnostics of the current state and development opportunities of these industries in the NAR, preparation of proposals on priority sub-sectors and support measures based on the results of diagnostics. Interim results: Implementation of support measures related to the development of relevant industries. Final results: The growth of production in agriculture.

3. Branding and promotion of specific and organic agricultural products for NAR. Preliminary results: Determination of organic agricultural products. Intermediate results: Promotion of certain organic products, promotion of the export of organic products to foreign markets. Final results: the development of the NAR economy and the growth of incomes of the population.

4. Development of processing and packaging industries of agricultural products. Preliminary results: Identification of relevant manufacturing industries and tools to support the development of industries. Interim results: The provision of appropriate mechanisms to support the development of certain processing industries. Final results: The development of the NAR economy, the growth of employment and income of the population.

5. Increasing the level of availability of agricultural production facilities. Preliminary results: Assessment of the level of provision of farmers with seeds, seedlings, feed production and agricultural machinery. Interim results: Improved availability and availability of appropriate means of production. Final results: The growth of productivity and income of the population in agriculture.

6. Organization of consulting services for farmers. Preliminary results: Identification of the relevant needs of farmers for advice and training. Interim results: Organization of consulting services and training based on identified needs. Final results: The development of knowledge and skills of farmers in the relevant areas, the growth of production in the relevant areas.

7. Creation of agroparks. Preliminary results: The formation of appropriate legislation, the definition of territories where agroparks will be created. Interim results: The beginning of the functioning of agricultural parks. As the final results, the growth of production and employment in agriculture is indicated.

The main targets of the state program are ensuring sustainable development, expanding employment opportunities, improving the living standards of the population, rational use of natural resources, and ensuring environmental protection.

It should be noted that on March 6, 2021, the Decree of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev approved the "Procedure for drawing up, executing, monitoring and evaluating state programs". The document defines the rules for the compilation, execution, monitoring and evaluation of state programs. The term "target indicators" used in this Order means indicators, the achievement of which is defined as the main ones for the period covered by the state program. And the meaning of the concept of "indicators" is figures, tables, etc. that create a certain idea about the progress of some kind of work, process. That is, in the state program, targets should be expressed not only in words, sentences, but also in numbers.

In the state program, the targets are not defined by figures, the goals set are not presented in figures. The question arises: What is the goal set in the program? What did the developers of the program want to achieve?

In the section "Monitoring and evaluation of the state program" of the Rules, it is noted: "monitoring of results under the state program is carried out on the basis of a comparison of target indicators (figures-V.M.) determined by the indicators of the result and the actual indicators obtained (figures-V. M.). " In this state document, the targets are not expressed in numbers.

The Action Plan of the "State Program of Socio-economic Development of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic  (NAR) for 2023-2027" provides for the creation of agroparks in the NAR in 2023-2027 as one of the priority areas. The plan provides for the formation of appropriate legislation as preliminary results, the definition of territories on which agricultural parks will be created, as intermediate results - the beginning of the functioning of agricultural parks, and as final results - the growth of production and employment in agriculture.

It is unknown on how many hectares, how many agroparks will be created in the NAR, nevertheless, the developers of the program believe that with the creation of agroparks, employment will eventually increase. The conducted studies give grounds to say the opposite.

In October 2021, at an event on the theme "The role of agroparks in the development of agriculture", Economy Minister Mikail Jabbarov said: "To date, more than 5,000 people have been provided with permanent jobs and 4,500 seasonal jobs in agroparks. It is planned to create more than 4,300 additional jobs in the agroparks that operate and will be organized." ([2])

The database of the State Statistics Committee indicates the number of people employed in agriculture 1,7 million. According to government officials, in 51 agricultural parks, which will be created on an area of 240 thousand hectares in total, 5,000 people and 4,500 seasonal jobs are currently provided. It is planned to create an additional 4,300 jobs in agricultural parks that will be organized later. It turns out that only 13,800 people will work on 240 thousand hectares of sown area, that is, on average 1 person per 17.4 hectares. Whereas in the country, 21 workers account for 17.4 hectares of sown areas. The number of people working in agricultural parks on a plot of 1 thousand hectares is 21 times less than the national average number of peasants working on a plot of 1 thousand hectares. If agricultural parks are created in the NAR, 64.6% of whose population lives in rural areas, the number of unemployed will increase dramatically. Because agroparks will be created in the meadows, in the territories that farmers now use as pastures. And in the NAR, thousands of peasants engaged in animal husbandry will be left without job.

The action plan for the implementation of the state program provides for 2023-2027 as one of the priority areas "branding and promotion of specific and organic agricultural products for the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic". In this plan, the definition of organic agricultural products is indicated as preliminary results, the promotion of the export of organic products to foreign markets is indicated as intermediate results, and the development of the NAR economy and the growth of household incomes are indicated as final results. As we can see, despite the fact that the "branding and promotion of organic agricultural products" is planned in the approved state document, upon familiarization with the plan, it becomes clear that organic agricultural products have not yet been defined. Only after some time (which is indefinite) it will be possible to identify organic agricultural products in the "initial result". And the "intermediate result" implies the promotion of certain organic products, encouraging the export of organic products to foreign markets. It turns out that the developers of the state program did not conduct research on organic agricultural products in the NAR, did not determine at what level the situation in this area is. That is, they did not set themselves such goals as - where to start, what to achieve. A five-year program was developed, but the possibilities for the production of organic agricultural products in the NAR were not studied.

International experience

As an example, it should be noted that the "Baden-Württemberg Action and Development Plan for 2014-2020 for rural areas (MEPL III) for 2022" of the Baden-Württemberg land in Germany provides for a number of measures aimed at increasing the number of enterprises engaged in organic production in this province  ([3]).

The document notes that the share of enterprises engaged in the production of organic products in 2003 was slightly less than 5% of the total number of enterprises, and in 2020 it increased to more than 11%.

As part of the Biological Diversity Enhancement Act, Baden-Württemberg has set a goal to increase the share of enterprises engaged in organic agriculture to 30-40% by 2030. The program developed by the Government of Baden-Württemberg provides for measures to promote the cessation of the use of toxic chemicals and fertilizers in production during plant protection, as well as financial resources to support the transition of companies to environmentally friendly agriculture, the preservation of organic farming.

The "action plan" of the program contains a description of the activities and the degree of actual financial support:

• 1. Avoidance of chemical means of production 190 € / ha
• 2. Access to organic agriculture – pasture plots (2 years) 350 €/ha
• 3. Introduction to organic farming - gardening (2 years) 935 € / ha
• 4. Introduction to organic farming - continuously produced products (2 years) 1,275 €/ha
• 5. Conservation of organic farming – pasture plots 230 €/ha
• 6. Conservation of organic farming – gardening 550 €/ha
• 7. Maintenance of organic farming – constantly produced products 750 €/ha
• 8. Certificate of organic control (max. 600 €/ company) 60 €/ ha

The program prepared by the Baden-Württemberg land contains an analysis of the current situation, it was noted that in 2020 the share of enterprises engaged in the production of organic products exceeded 11%, and, in particular, the task was set to increase the share of organic farming to 30-40% by 2030. It's simple! The program describes the real situation, problems, measures that need to be implemented, and tools that can be used to achieve goals. A good example, isn't it?!

The "State Program of socio-economic development of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic for 2023-2027" plans to develop crop production, including horticulture, viticulture, melon growing, as well as animal husbandry and beekeeping. The state program, designed for five years, does not specify the figures in what volume, in what quantity or by how many percent the production of crop production (horticulture, viticulture, melon growing), animal husbandry and beekeeping will increase by 2027.

It is obvious that during the development of the state program "The procedure for drawing up, executing, monitoring and evaluating state programs" was not observed.

It should also be noted that information has appeared in the press about the adoption of state programs for the socio-economic development of the NAR for 2009-2013 and for 2014-2018. Although we tried to get information about the existence and execution of these programs, our search on the Internet did not yield any results.

[1] https://static.president.az/upload/Files/2023/06/05/1a6746ea89383ebdc443607715fa54be_4363375.pdf

[2] https://vergiler.az/news/economy/14950.html

[3] https://foerderung.landwirtschaft-bw.de/pb/site/pbs-bw-mlr/get/documents_E1090081218/MLR.LEL/PB5Documents/mlr/GAP2014-2020/Broschuere_Agrarpolitik/MEPL_III/MEPL_III_Brosch2021_Auflage5.pdf