Zardab; Aghjabadi – On October 18 and 19, thanks to joint efforts between the United States and Azerbaijan, villages in Zardab and Aghjabadi districts celebrated the completion of multiple water supply and livestock management projects. The U.S. Embassy, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Ministry of Economy, local Executive Committees, and municipal government representatives attended the events. The United States, via USAID, and the Government of Azerbaijan co-financed the projects, which were managed by the East-West Management Institute (EWMI).  

With technical support from EWMI, residents in Dali Gushchu and Godekgobu villages of Zardab district and in Arazbar village of Aghjabadi district built feed grinding facilities that increase the local availability of affordable animal feed.  This improvement is expected to boost the productivity of livestock production while reducing costs for animal feed by nearly 50 percent, benefitting the 4,700 residents of the three villages.

In the Shahsevan-Tazakend village of Aghjabadi district, residents installed nearly 1 km of new pipes and two new 12 and 50 ton water storage tanks.  The project will improve living and sanitary conditions for more than 800 village residents, helping resolve long-standing shortages of non-potable water.  The improved water system will also ease the lives of women and children that previously had to carry water from distant wells to their homes on a daily basis.   

The United States and Azerbaijan, Via EWMI, have implemented 105 community projects in 93 Azerbaijani communities benefiting more than 156,000 people. Through USAID’s Socio-Economic Development Activity (SEDA) program, EWMI promotes cooperation between citizens, civil society organizations, and the government to advance socio-economic development and improve the quality of life in rural areas.