The World Bank is ready for the early launch of the AGGRI project in Moldova with a total cost of $55 million to support the development of agriculture.
This was stated during the meeting held by the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and representatives of the World Bank: Frauke Jungbluth, Practice Manager for Agriculture and Food, Europe and Central Asia, Inguna Dobraja, Head of the WB Representative Office in Moldova, and Sergiy Zorya, agricultural economist. The participants focused on the implemented WB projects, its immediate and long-term objectives, as well as Moldova's development priorities in the agricultural sector for the next period. The officials drew attention to the importance of implementing the World Bank's "Moldova Agriculture Competitiveness" Project (MAC-P) and reviewed the progress achieved. As it was mentioned, MAC-P has received four additional financings, which allowed financing 47 groups of producers; the capacity of our country in food safety management has been increased (five border inspection posts and two laboratories with modern and accredited equipment have been created); soil productivity has been increased (60 thousand hectares are cultivated with No-Till technology and 2200 hectares of forest belts have been created, which protect 64 thousand hectares of agricultural lands. At the same time, by the end of 2024, a system of collection and processing of animal by-products will be created, which will solve environmental problems and open new opportunities for launching exports of animal products to the European Union. The sides also discussed the steps to be taken to quickly launch in Moldova the AGGRI project - "Agriculture Governance, Growth and Resilience Investment" (AGGRI), financed by a 50.1-million-euro ($55 million) WB loan. According to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vladimir Bolea, the draft law on the ratification of this loan agreement was recently passed by the Parliament in the first reading and will soon be considered and approved in the final reading. "The scale of this project represents a significant support to the agricultural sector. The AGGRI project is expected by the agricultural community. It will focus on the most relevant areas. Our objectives are to strengthen the capacity of AIPA and ANSA, revitalize the livestock sector and rehabilitate irrigation systems," said Vladimir Bolea. It is planned that about $21 million under the agreement will be provided by the World Bank to stimulate initiatives to promote and develop the livestock sector. The business environment will be stimulated to create new-style dairy farms, modernize existing agri-farms to increase productivity, improve product quality and reduce environmental impact. The money is also intended to support the quality assurance of products in accordance with EU requirements, certification of meat and dairy products and promotion of their export to the European market. In order to improve crop yields, another $25 million will be allocated to rehabilitate primary and secondary irrigation infrastructure. About $6.5 million will be allocated to strengthen the institutional capacity of AIPA and ANSA, as well as to support the establishment of the Agricultural Advisory Centre and Veterinary Centres of Excellence. About $2.5 million will be used to manage the project, which is a financing program for Moldova's agricultural sector until 2029. The implementation of this project is expected to improve the quality of life in rural areas, stimulate the growth of beneficiaries' incomes, ensure the modernization of agri-enterprises, create new jobs, increase tax payments to the state budget, and create conditions for attracting new investments in agriculture and related sectors. //18.07.2023 - InfoMarket.
