News

Keeping tabs on soaring prices:
Using the GIEWS Workstation in Armenia

by Peter Lowrey, FAO Communication Officer
October 2008

Armenia, a small, poor country in the Caucasus, has seen food and fuel prices soar in the last two years. The government tried to protect the most vulnerable members of society by raising the minimum wage, pensions and social assistance.


  Photo: FAO/Johan Spanner

But how did they know when and by how much to raise the payments?

That is where accurate, timely and easy-to-use statistics come in. The Armenian National Statistical Service monitors the cost of 200 food items all over the country every 10 days in order to inform government policy making. The ministry of agriculture and the metrological service also input data on food production and the weather. Together all the data paint a picture in numbers of the state of the country.

Since 2006, the Armenian government has been using an information system designed and provided by FAO called the Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) Workstation. There are computers hooked up to the workstation in all the services mentioned above and others so statisticians, analysts and policy makers can work together.

How is it going?

"It cuts time and we can get access to more information," says Anahit Avetisyan, Chief of the Food Security Statistics Division, at the National Statistical Service in the capital Yerevan.

"It updates information very quickly and it is easy to work with." Ms Avetisyan says her division is waiting eagerly for the next version of the software so they can improve their service.