LEX-FAOC150743

This National Strategy on Agriculture and Rural Development, consisting of six Chapters, takes into consideration economic resource management and social challenges in agriculture and rural development. It aims at the development for 2014-2020, consistent with the European Union policies and instruments. The Strategy undertakes to reach a vision based on the coherence between agriculture, environment and rural development, which represent economic, environmental and social problems. 2.1: The vision of Strategy is “A competitive restructured and modernized agri-food business sector. Improved living and working conditions in rural areas. Agri-food activities existing in harmony with the natural environment maintaining the biodiversity, cultural and traditional values for future generations.” The objective derived from the vision consequently is also based on the achievement of synergies among economic, agricultural resource management and social areas: To ensure that the agri-food sector contributes to the sustainable achievement of the national economic and social development goals. 2.5 In addressing the issues related to and the inequality between men and women as for holding power and decision making at all levels, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry promotes an active and visible policy of gender mainstreaming. In case of all policies and programs, before taking decisions, an analysis of the effects on women, respectively, on men is carried out. These efforts are aimed at enhancing the participation of women at all levels of decision making. The scope of the Strategy is to raise the competitiveness of the agri-food sector through comprehensive restructuring and modernization to improve conditions for living and working in rural areas whilst achieving synergies between agri-food activities and the natural environment. 2.2. General Objectives 1 are: Increase competitiveness of the agri-food sector through modernization and market integration. Moldova has to increase the competitiveness through comprehensive restructuring and modernization of agriculture, land consolidation and by gradually increasing the proportion of high value-added agricultural products whilst bearing in mind the food security needs. In this sense, the strategy places particular emphasis on modernizing the sector, improving education and associated systems, as well as facilitating access to markets for inputs and outputs. Specific Objective 1.1: Modernization of agri-food chain in order to meet EU requirements on food safety and quality. First, support is needed in modernization and restructuring of farms specialized in the production of traditional agricultural produce (fruits and vegetables, milk, meat) and other competitive agricultural products. Second, agri-food processing business needs to be supported by investing in modern technologies in order to meet EU food safety and quality requirements. Third, cooperation should be enhanced between agri-food primary producers and agri-business downstream operators (processors, wholesalers, retailers) to increase income opportunities and provide access of Moldovan agri-food products to national and international markets. Specific Objective 1.2: Facilitate access to capital, inputs and output markets for farmers. Investment support programs presently in place offer important tools for improving farmers’ access to capital. Measures that could help farmers get better access to funds should focus on: efforts to create a functioning framework for collateral commodity transactions (guarantee fund, warehouse receipts); efforts to stimulate land market, thus turning land into a more liquid and attractive asset to banks; and efforts on reducing agricultural risks, by both mitigating risks and insuring against them. An open regime for the import of seeds and seedlings, as well as for fertilizers and pesticides, would improve farmers’ access to modern technology and help them compete with EU farmers. Farmers’ access to output markets, particularly critical for small and medium farmers, could be addressed by supporting farmers integration into supply chains, through facilitating linkages to downstream operators, including processors wholesalers and retailers; producer associations to enable, among other things, improved access to post-harvest infrastructure, as well as facilitating their access to the market. Specific Objective 1.3: First, it is necessary to support the restructuring and modernization of the education base to meet market demand. Secondly, the agricultural research should be modernized and restructured to strengthen its relationship with the private sector including the possibility of creating Public Private Partnerships. Third, extension services should be upgraded and meet the needs of the agri-food business sector cooperating with agricultural research and education. It is necessary to use the synergies within the three areas. In addition to irrigation it is essential to use appropriate farming techniques and agricultural water best management practices proved to improve effectiveness and efficiency of water usage including: irrigation scheduling and volumetric measurement, etc.