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Chisinau, October 11, 2007 –-Packages consisting of seeds, fertilizers and fuel were distributed today to farm households from the village of Zaim, Causeni district, who were affected by this year’s drought. The action is part of the UN joint programme „Relief and Technical Assistance Response to the Drought in Moldova” and was monitored by project’s donors and partners.

During the field visit to Causeni, donors and partners involved in the project monitored the way the aid is distributed to rural communities and received by farming households. Ten beneficiaries from Zaim received packages consisting of 100 kg of seeds, 60 kg of fertilizers and 8 litres of fuel. The beneficiaries were selected by a local commission in Zaim according to a series of criteria, including the impact of the drought, social conditions and the availability of the beneficiary to plant winter crops. Overall, 20,500 farming households throughout the country will benefit from similar aid packages. The total cost of packages is estimated at US$ 1.5 million. During the field visit, Kaarina Immonen, UN Resident Coordinator in Moldova, expressed satisfaction about the way the project is carried out and that the beneficiaries manage to receive the goods and proceed with planting before October 15.  

Farmers from Zaim mentioned that this year’s production volume was so low that they have not succeeded to collect even seeding material for the next year. Therefore, the package will help them overcome the crisis and gives them hope for a better harvest next year. Vera Grosu, one of the beneficiaries from Zaim, mentioned that agriculture is the only source of survival for those eight members of her family.  “If last year we harvested 8 tons of wheat from 2 ha of land, this year we collected only 800 kg. Without this package, I would have not been able to buy fertilizers and seeds. We are very happy about this support, in particular about the high-quality seeds”, Vera Grosu said.

Packages were distributed thanks to the financial support provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).   

The project is managed by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Population Fund, the United Nations Children Fund, other UN agencies and the Government of the Republic of Moldova as well as non-governmental organizations and local public authorities which are implementing partners of the project.

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For contact: Aliona Niculita, Programme Analyst, UNDP Moldova, tel. 22 00 45, ext. 120, cell 0691 29415