FAO Moldova will implement a 4 year programme to support small and medium farmers in the context of climate change

Under the new framework programme that will be signed this year, FAO will provide support to Moldova for:  policy making to support small and medium farmers, promoting sustainable agriculture and innovative ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring food security in the context of prices fluctuating globally. Complementary activities are planned to educate farmers and for public information campaigns. FAO will contribute  to the budget needed for these activities and will provide support in identifying other external donors.

FAO assistance will always be available to Moldova in cases of food security crisis

FAO programme was developed in the context of the recent signing of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change agreement to which Republic Moldova is a signatory along with other 176 countries of the world, and fits into an overall strategy designed to adapt food and agriculture to climate change and to attenuate the carbon print of agriculture.

Regarding the worldwide objective of FAO to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in the agricultural sector, Tudor Robu, deputy representative of FAO Moldova, underlined the local efforts of the organization in this direction: "The new FAO programme in Moldova  will provide support for Moldova to implement agricultural practices that will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. One of the the main actions will be stimulating the use of environment-friendly technologies, including conservation agriculture technologies."

Tudor Robu stressed that that food security is another FAO priority in the region,  and FAO assistance will always be available to Moldova in cases of food security crisis caused by rising prices of commodities, including grains.

A critical component in adapting the agriculture to climate change is the support provided for small and medium farmers, pointed out Robu mentioning that this support is also implemented through cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry to develop and implement favorable policies.

One of the most essential components is the education of farmers trough field schools

Within the framework of support for small and medium farmers one of the most essential components is the education of farmers trough field schools, an initiative of FAO implemented in the last 2 years that will be extended in the new programme.

"It is very important to promote the necessary changes  at the grass root level in direct contact with the farmers. In the field schools more than 150 farmers learn practically from other farmers to adapt their crops in order to be resilient to climate change, to be productive and yet to have as little environmental impact as possible”, said Anatol Fala, FAO expert, who pointed out that in the next four years about 10-15 field schools will open in several districts.

One of the conclusions of the round table was that everyone has a role to play in mitigating climate change.

By wasting less food or eating less meat and more pulses, we can reduce our footprint food and we can make a difference. The situation in Moldova is specifically favorable as the climate helps the production of pulses and therefore FAO provides support to stimulate pulses cultivation through transfer of knowledge and technologies. Also, information campaigns will be launched to promote the consumption of pulses, implicitly those produced in Moldova.

The negative global effects of climate change are already being felt in some cereal crop yields

According to the FAO report "The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA)2016", the negative global effects of climate change are already being felt in some cereal crop yields and beyond 2030, according to scientific evidence, negative pressures on food production will be increasingly felt everywhere. Until then, adverse impacts of higher temperatures are sharply skewed towards developing countries, pointing to dimmer prospects for their food self-sufficiency. The same report points out that "success in transforming food and agriculture systems will largely depend on urgently supporting smallholders in adapting to climate change.