U.S. Agency for International Development to provide Moldova with grants for extending irrigated areas

Chisinau, 31 October /MOLDPRES/ - The High Value Agriculture Activity in Moldova (HVAA) Project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a new grants appeal, in order to back the extension of irrigated areas. The deadline for submitting the applications is 11 December 2019.    

The project anticipates the providing of about 1.4 million lei within this grants appeal. The value of one grant may vary between 300,000 and 700,000 lei; yet the overall sum will depend on the activities unveiled in the application on request and the final negotiation; therefore, the grant can be larger or smaller than the sum specified.

The activities which can be included in the grant request might be, but do not boil down to the creation of high value agricultural plantations on consolidated lands (berries, greenhouses, orchards, nurseries), which need irrigation; the initiatives, Women and Water, which involve women to start a business in agriculture or extend their production in areas with centralized irrigation systems with the use of irrigation technologies, etc.

The financing from grants can be demanded by the Association of Users of Water for Irrigation (AUAI), cooperatives, groups of producers, producers and owners of lands from the zones with rehabilitated centralized irrigation systems.  

At the same time, the requesters of grants are also to come up with their own contribution of at least 20 per cent of the overall value of the activity for non-profit organizations and 50 per cent of the total value of the work for commercial organizations.  

The USAID High Value Agriculture Activity in Moldova Project on the period 2016-2021 is set to contribute to the development of the farming sector, in order to give an impetus to the economic growth and changes in rural settlements, thus enhancing the well-being of the Moldovan residents. To achieve this goal, the HVAA Project, along with agricultural entrepreneurs, associations of the users of water for irrigation and other partners, contribute to the increase in profitableness of each hectare of farmland, improving the quality and productivity of products cultivated, increasing the sales on the local and international market and encouraging partnerships in the agricultural sector.