The Government adopted the 2012-2022 Strategy for the Development of Rural Extension Services, which seeks to modernize rural communities by offering consultancy services aiming to generate added value to agriculture. Under the new model, rural extension services will be subject to public procurement, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to Agriculture Ministry data, today the network of rural extension services covers 44% of the country's territory, or 350 rural settlements. The network operates 35 branches with 75 regional and 350 local consultants. The model proposed for the period after 2012 will be implemented by an NGO that is administratively independent from the Agriculture Ministry. The Strategy stipulates that rural extension services will be provided by NGOs under contracts awarded through public procurement procedures. The provider of such services, funded from the State Budget, will need to meet the conditions necessary for receiving the status of a public unit. Rural extension services are mainly destined for subsistence households. Among the Strategy's objectives is to increase the incomes of rural extension beneficiaries at a rate of 15% a year. Rural extension services have been introduced in Moldova in 2002 through the Rural Investment and Services Project, co-funded by the World Bank and SIDA.