The Armenian Studies Program web page is sponsored by a grant from
The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable
Foundation, Fresno.
Congratulations to Bill
Erysian, who received his doctorate degree in Economics from the State Agrarian
University (SAUA) of
Erysian
began working in
Erysian has
also been a
frequent international consultant and project director for the U. S. Agency for
International Development (USAID), the World
Bank, USDA Foreign Agricultural
Service, ACDI/VOCA and other international non-governmental organizations in
the areas of agribusiness
marketing, small/medium enterprise management and
sustainable development. He has managed twelve international development
projects
in five different countries over the past thirteen years.
Following its declaration
of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the
A free-market economy was
born with an immediate dependence on this emerging agriculture sector, which
would soon be responsible
for nearly 40% of the country’s national income.
Thousands of
jobs were lost
in the privatization process as agricultural output fell dramatically.
Independence, land privatization, and a blockade
from the neighboring countries
of Turkey and Azerbaijan would quickly challenge Armenia’s ability to adjust to
an agricultural-based,
free-market economy without the help of any historical
road map.
In his dissertation,
Erysian provides an exhaustive account of Armenia’s
privatization process and
the challenges the country faced in its transition to an economy based on
market forces. Specifically, he
explores
the role of agriculture in this process and the gradual maturity of the
agrarian sector of Armenia over the past 15 years.
By
targeting the research,
analysis and assessment of the post-reform condition of Armenia’s agrifood
sector, his ultimate purpose is to
promote the stable development of Armenian
agriculture and explain how it continues to affect the country’s economy. He also sets
forth a calculated process of
what steps the Armenian government has already taken and should continue to
implement, in order to nurture
the proper development of a free-market economy,
a reduction of poverty, an increase in manufacturing and consistent growth in
the private
sector. A strong case is
made for agriculture to assume a critical role in the future of the country’s
economic development.
Dr. Erysian
currently
serves as Coordinator of Grants and International Projects for the College of
Agricultural Sciences and Technology at Fresno
State. He is the founder and
current Director of Resource Development for the five-campus California State
University Consortium for
International Development. He also serves as
Executive Director for the non-profit Armenian Agribusiness Education Fund. He
holds an
undergraduate degree in journalism from Fresno State (1980) and an MSc
in International and Comparative Politics from the London School
of Economics
and Political Science. He can be reached at bille@csufresno.edu.