In the next three years, farmers, cooperatives and agricultural higher education institutions in Moldova will get free counseling from 45 American specialists volunteering their expertise in fields like eco-friendly agriculture, dairy farming and animal husbandry. This is possible thanks to a new phase of the Farmer-to-Farmer Program that has launched today.
Nadejda Mocanu, director of Farmer-to-Farmer Moldova, this marks the program’s return to Moldova after a break since 2013. In the next three years, U.S. experts will make short visits to Moldova to share their experience according to the chosen subjects and the needs of the beneficiaries. The Program cooperates with the employers’ organization “Moldova Organic Value Chain Alliance” (MOVCA), the Agrostoc Cooperative, the Agrarian State University, the State University “Alecu Russo” from Bălţi, and the Association of Farmers and Milk Producers of Northern Moldova.
USAID Mission Head Karen Hilliard noted that agriculture is an important source of income for Moldovans. In Moldova, USAID has been supporting the Farmer-to-Farmer Program for more than 20 years. The main goal is to ensure economic and sustainable growth in the agricultural sector through volunteer-based technical assistance.
Iurie Ușurelu, general secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, noted that USAID-funded programs have contributed to very good results in agriculture back since the 1990s, when the first cooperative entrepreneurs, the first agricultural stores, and the first units of modern equipment appeared in Moldova. The official also remarked that the processing and livestock sector is still underdeveloped in our country, and the Farmer-to-Farmer Program is here to improve that.
Alexei Micu, MOVCA executive director, said that in the previous stages the Program’s experts were very helpful and supportive.
The Farmer-to-Farmer Program was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1985 as a an instrument to provide developing economies with know-how and expertise offered on a volunteer basis by American farmers and experts. The monetary equivalent of the technical assistance provided by volunteers under the Program in Moldova is over $446,000.
