Moldova is indeed facing one of the most serious crisis, international experts

The Republic of Moldova is indeed experiencing one of the most serious crises and this justifies the request for foreign aid made by the Moldovan authorities, addressed to the donor countries and development partners, said Henri Josserand, head of the Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at the presentation of the preliminary assessment report on the losses caused by the drought. The event was attended by representatives of donor countries and of Moldova’s development partners. The final report of the FAO will be ready in about two weeks. Henri Josserand said that the losses are yet under evaluation. According to him, the losses in the animal breeding sector will be larger than the ones in gardening because the people had to cull their animals or sell them at lower prices. In consequence, the milk production will decrease and peasant farmsteads’ capacities to provide themselves with the necessary fodder will be limited. He urged the people in Moldova not to cull their animals in continuation, saying that the international donors will help bring fodder into the country in the next two months. It will be distributed to rural residents free of charge. Henri Josserand said that apart from the aid provided by the international organizations, the state should take additional measures to support the hardest hit social strata. He mentioned among the measures the possibility of canceling the taxes on land, the taxes on economic activities in rural areas and the import taxes on basic food to favour these imports. “This is a fiscal and budgetary sacrifice, but the Government should think about it because this is the simplest and the most direct way of helping a large number of people,” the quoted source said. The Government was also advised to raise the number of students in schools provided with free meals and to use the school canteens to prepare food and supply it to the socially vulnerable groups in rural areas. Appealing to the international donors for support in overcoming the drought consequences, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Anatolie Gorodenco said that the aid of 200 lei (about 16 USD) per hectare of arable land that the Government promised to allot to agricultural producers to help them plough the fields is too small, because the real costs now amount to about 160 USD. Moldova has already sought 300,000 tonnes of agri-food products in humanitarian aid from international donors. The aid will be distributed to the farmers and the socially vulnerable strata. The Government of Moldova asked for 72,200 tonnes of wheat flour, 9,500 tonnes of rye flour, about 90,000 tonnes of potatoes, approximately 40,000 tonnes of meat etc. A number of states and international organizations have already expressed their readiness to assist Moldova in overcoming the crisis, but the aid will arrive in Moldova only after the FAO presents the final report. The Moldovan Government estimates the losses caused by the drought at 1 bln USD.