The declaration of the Sistema Económico Latinoamericano/Latin American Economic System (SELA) is undoubtedly true that world poverty is a phenomenon that has reached historically unprecedented high levels[1]. The Republic of Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, is very far from Latin America, yet has endured similar economic and trade reforms to countries in Latin America since the breakup of the Soviet Union. This is clear given that structural adjustment programmes, which have had key policy instruments of the ‘Washington Consensus’, such as, free capital mobility, trade liberalization and removal of subsidies for public goods, at their core have been implemented in poor countries around the globe and ‘despite the immense diversity among developing countries, were largely homogenous in nature’[2] and have proven disastrous for the economies and citizens welfare in the countries that have endured these reforms[3].

In light of this reality, as well as the larger picture of ‘the continuing expansion of the USA depending upon the uniformity of rules across emerging markets’[4], we can logically conclude that there should also be unity and solidarity amongst the developing countries of the world who have suffered and continue to suffer the consequences of neo-liberal pre-Keynesian contractionary policies, with the aim of constructing a more humanitarian alternative.

Internationalist solidarity initiatives of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela such as the International Humanitarian Fund, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) and the proposal for OPEC countries to contribute to a development fund, which are all signature components of the highly humanistic Venezuelan foreign policy, should be seen as viable and necessary alternatives to be further developed if a multi-polar socially just world is to be created. The International Humanitarian Fund[5] has been advanced at numerous international forums[6] by the honourable president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, as a source of financing for least developed countries throughout the world without the typical neoliberal conditionalities. The fund, which is aimed at saving the lives of children dying of disease and huger around the world, would draw on 10 percent of the external debt of developing countries and 10 percent of the world’s military expenditures, which would be reallocated for humanitarian ends.

The Bolivarian Alternative the Americas is an international cooperation organization based upon the idea of social, political, and economic integration between the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean The agreement was initially proposed by the government of Venezuela as an alternative to the failed Free Trade Area of the Americas proposed by the USA. Since this trade group was first established Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras and Dominica have also joined with Ecuador holding observer status.

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) represents the first attempt at regional integration that is not based primarily on trade liberalization but on a new vision of social welfare, mutual economic aid and equity. “An alternative that is based on cooperation and solidarity, without forgetting economic sustainability. Built on forging a new road away from multinational competition and neo-liberal free trade, so that each country retains its own sovereignty and is able to develop its own country according to its own necessities and desires. Based on breaking away from the economic colonization that swept across Latin America in the 90s through a wave of privatizations, free trade agreements, and structural adjustment policies that pushed Latin America further in to debt and increased the already aggravated inequality ratio.”[7]

Even though Moldova is very far from Latin America both the countries of ALBA as well as Russia and China are very open to collaboration and it is possible that ALBA would also be open to Moldova participating in some way.

The declaration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela that there has to be recognition of the social-historical debt that the industrial world has with the countries that were exploited as colonies[8] is absolutely true. Similarly, while Venezuela has never exploited Moldova, it can be said that Venezuela does indeed have a debt with Moldova due to the fact that as a Soviet Republic it contributed significantly to Cuba’s development. Specifically, as a republic of the USSR, with an agricultural surface representing 0.45% of the Union’s total agricultural land, Moldova cultivated 20% of the Union’s vineyards and produced around 30% of all wine and brandy, as well as accounted for 10% of the Union’s orchards[9]. In addition, 40 % of the Union’s tobacco and 5 % of vegetables were produced in Moldova[10].

Thus, Moldova made a considerable contribution to the Union’s total agricultural output, which made it possible for the USSR to achieve high rates of economic growth and enhance the well-being of not only of its own citizens but that of its comrades abroad. For example, Cuba’s industrialization was in large part financed by the Soviet Union, to which Moldova – through its role of ensuring food security as the basis for steady industrial development – contributed significantly. Accordingly, it can be said that Moldova, together with the other Soviet Union republics – indirectly subsidized Cuba’s development, such as her great strides in education and health care. For that reason it can be said that without the help of the Soviet Union Cuba would not have so many doctors to send to Misión Barrio Adentro, literacy specialists for Misión Ribas and agronomists to send to the Convenio-Cuba Venezuela.

The Burden of Debt and its Consequences

As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has correctly stated, developing countries are enduring great difficulties in the face of a lack of economic resources[11]. This difficulty can be seen to stem from primarily overwhelming debt that creates a cumbersome predicament for countries around the world.[12] Moldova in 2002 had seen its GDP nose-dive around 70% and 75% of this already weakened budget was devoted to paying its foreign debt. This state of affairs has contributed to Moldova remaining the poorest country in Europe with a monthly average salary of agricultural workers of $50 compared with over $110 needed to fill the monthly consumption basket[13]. The country’s economic indicators are low not only compared to European standards but also compared to countries in Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, according to World Bank statistics, Moldova has experienced the largest decline in GDP of any country in Europe and Central Asia[14]. In 2004, Moldovan GDP per capita, expressed in 2000 prices was still under US$400, a sixth of the average for the Europe and Central Asia region and below the average for Sub-Saharan Africa.[15]

The Importance and Necessity of Debt Relief

In order to unshackle Moldova from this oppressive debt which is a precondition for economic growth, voices such as President Hugo Chávez Frías, Nina Orlova & Per Ronnas from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and Dr. Joseph E. Stiglitz ( Nobel Prize-winning economist, chief economist at the World Bank until January, 2000, chairman of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers and current professor of finance and economics at Columbia University) that advocate for debt relief must be heeded, if poverty and suffering is to be truly and significantly reduced.

At a press conference at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico in March 2002, President Hugo Chávez Frías offered his humane view on debt relief, “Nobody could doubt that, for many countries, servicing external debt meant that their people would starve to death. Debt cancellation would be a highly humane gesture.”

The following paragraphs are cited from: Moldova’s Transition to Destitution by SIDA.

“Relief from the excruciating debt burden is an absolute prerequisite for economic growth, a successful transition and to reverse the human disaster that is unfolding. This can take place through comprehensive debt rescheduling to more favorable long-term loans at low rates of interest,… It can also be achieved through outright debt cancellation.

It should also be noted that there is clear trade-off between honouring the external debt and the internal debt (primarily in the form of wage arrears). The austerity budgets of 1999 and 2000, imposed by the IMF, have provided little room for clearing or even reducing the arrears in wages and pensions. The absolute priority attached to external debt servicing at the expense of honouring the domestic debt, has some very serious implications. Firstly, it implies that it is less important to honour overdue payments to its own citizens than external debts, presumably because individual workers are in a weaker position to enforce their rights than external creditors. This is nothing short of a slap in the face to a country that is endeavouring to establish the rule of law after decades of totalitarian and arbitrary rule of force.

Secondly, as discussed above, it would be a fallacy to believe that failure to honour wage and pension obligations does not carry any significant cost. The cost is very high indeed, not only to the individuals concerned, but also to society in general. The response by those affected is likely to be (and indeed has become) twofold: revolt and/or corruption. At the end of the day it is the common people who are forced to pay the arrears in wages as teachers begin to solicit illicit payments from parents, bureaucrats from those who need their services and doctors from patients. There is no doubt that the arrears in wages and pensions are, in themselves, a formidable obstacle to the reform process and to any efforts to combat corruption – which in turn is a major obstacle to economic growth.

There is also a clear trade off between servicing the external debt and

meeting human needs and rights in terms of basic health care and education.

As discussed above, there is a direct link between the sharp increase

in the debt servicing cost and the dramatic fall in public expenditure

on health care, education and other social services, from an already

precariously low level. Under the present circumstances, the cost of debt

servicing can be measured in terms of increased morbidity and mortality,

foregone education and denial of basic human rights to food and shelter

against the cold.

In the light of the above, it would appear that the best assistance that can be rendered would be to mobilise support for Moldova’s efforts to renegotiate its external debt.”[16]

The following paragraphs are cited from Making Globalization Work by Dr. Joseph E. Stiglitz:

„With all the debt service, they, (Moldova) like other highly indebted countries, could not make the investments needed for growth, and without growth, they were a poor prospect for lending. At least default would stop the hemorrhaging of money out of the country”[17].

„As the situation in Moldova demonstrates, without debt relief the highly indebted poor countries will not be able to meet the basic needs of their citizens, let alone make the investments necessary if they are to grow out of poverty” [18]

Dr. Joseph Stiglitz also recalls the tragic human consequences of the burden of debt, “It got very emotional when the daughter of one of [our] associates went to the hospital, the hospital ran out of bottled oxygen, and she died. There was no oxygen in the entire country. They couldn’t afford a stable supply of goods, in part, because their foreign exchange was being used to service the foreign debt.”[19]

The Instability of Being the Most Remittance Dependent Country in the World

As a consequence of the aforementioned depressing economic indicators the survival strategy of up to a million Moldovans (50% of the working age population) has been to find work abroad and send remittances back to their families.[20] [21] Remittances from this substantial portion of the population account for 36.2% of the country’s gross domestic product, making Moldova, along with Tajikistan, the World’s largest recipient of remittances, vis-à-vis share of GDP[22]. The amount of remittance inflows, which has been steadily increasing (1 billion 108.87 million USD in the first 9 months of 2008; 1,182 million USD in 2006; 1 million USD in 1995[23], [24]) has fueled the country’s strong macroeconomic growth since 2000.[25] These remittances have also, according to the study “100 most pressing problems of Moldova in 2007”, carried out by IDIS “Viitorul”, influenced inflation and internal demand due to the fact that they are being spent on consumption and services.

One may be deceived into thinking that the situation in Moldova is more promising then it really is if only the reduction in poverty from 1999 to 2005 is examined. Specifically, in 2005, about one third of Moldova’s people were living in absolute poverty and 16 per cent in extreme poverty, compared to 73 per cent and 60 per cent respectively in 1999. However, the question of the sustainability of this reduction in poverty must be asked given the fact that some studies have estimated that remittances account for up to 65% of migrant households’ incomes[26].

The dependence on remittances exposes the country to the risk that, should remittance levels fall, declining incomes could lead to a sharp increase in poverty rates nationwide, especially in the rural areas where 61% of the country’s population lives. This preoccupation has been raised by both the IMF Resident Representative in Moldova, Johan Mathisen as well as the leader of the political party the Liberal Democrats Vladimir Filat when they have argued that economic stagnation in the countries, where Moldovan migrants earn their living, may force them to come back home, and, as a result, money remittances from abroad will diminish. In addition there exists the awfully sad human tragedy of Moldovan women being trafficked into sexual slavery.

The mainstream discourse of the World Bank[27] on migration and remittances dismisses evidence which demonstrates that remittances are not able to boost the economy of the migrant-source country for the reason that a significant part of income is used for consumption purposes and not saved or invested. The World Bank supports the argument that remittances can lead to economic growth merely by adding to the migrant’s household income, regardless of whether this additional income is spent on consumption or savings. This paper argues that the following viewpoint of the World Bank is overly optimistic and actually counterproductive to true poverty reduction in Moldova, as well as other countries that are highly dependent on remittances: “International migration can generate substantial welfare gains for migrants and their families and for the countries involved (countries of origin and destination).”[28]

What Remittances Are Not Able To Do

In spite of the massive inflows of remittances there persist numerous reasons for Moldovans leaving their country such as the bad roads, lack of gas, no sewerage, no running water and low wages.[29] These problems can only be solved by the central government which has no access to remittances, nor should they argues François Bourguignon, chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank in WASHINGTON on November 16, 2005, “Remittances are hard-earned income that, in most cases, has already been taxed, They should not be taxed again, and governments should not try to count them as development aid.” In addition to remittances being out of bounds for the central government, a huge percentage of Moldova’s already weakened GDP is devoted to paying its external debt.

Changing the Question

While most literature on remittances explores how to effectively and efficiently use remittances, such as decreasing the cost of bank transfers, this paper argues that instead we should ask, ‘How can we transform the dynamics of the Moldovan economy so that 50% of the working age population does not have to flee their country in order earn a decent living wage which allows them to support themselves and their family back home?’

Was Moldova’s Past was more Prosperous than its Present?

These circumstances are in stark contrast to its once thriving economy prior to independence, Moldova’s current economic development (and especially agricultural development – which accounts for about 65-70% of GDP, 70% of total exports[30] and employs over 40% of the population[31]) is slow and undergoing reversals. In spite of Moldova being a very fertile region with rich black soil (chernozem) covering three-quarters of the territory, good quality water and a decent climate for growing fruits and vegetables,[32] there has been a drastic reduction in agricultural production, by about 35% in the first half of the 1990’s and by 20% in the second half, now representing less than half of its 1989 – 1991 level.[33]

Moldova’s development beyond own self-sufficiency was due to a large extent to its strong agricultural support institutions, among which the Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture is a prime example. The Institute is singled out for its Union-wide significance. It used to serve not only its own needs in plant protection methods and preparations, but also those of the other republics. The Institute’s technological and human capacity for supporting biological agricultural production supported 25% (the meantime, organic agricultural production has dropped to a mere 1%[34]) of all agricultural production in the country and made it possible for Moldova to produce enough to feed its own citizen and those of its neighboring countries. This was due, on the one hand, to heavy state investments into its development. On the other, the Institute had a special role to play in supporting agricultural production through its strong links with the collective farms, which were supplied with preparations and other methods of plant protection through a decentralized system of factories, which mass-produced biological pesticides.

Moldova’s Development Path to the Currently Low Levels of Agricultural Production

The aforementioned low levels of agricultural production can be attributed to, amongst other factors, the drastic reduction of governmental investment into agricultural research and extension which has adversely affected agricultural (including biological) production levels. Government financing of Research and Development (R&D) activities has decreased from 2% of GDP in 1990 to 0.2% in 2001 but then slightly increased to 0.45% in 2006. In this period GDP has also decreased to one third its 1990 level[35]. The Research Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture (formerly known as the Bio-Institute) is one illustrative example. In 1989 the Institute counted 250 scientists; by 2006 their number has been reduced to a mere 47[36]. This level is not only significantly lower than the level of financing in developed countries (Japan – 3.6%, USA – 2.84%, Germany – 2.29%, France – 2.18%), but is also lower in comparison to other formerly command economies (Czech Republic – 1.26%, Hungary – 1.1%, Ukraine –1.1%, Russia – 0.85%, Romania – 0.54%)[37].

Agricultural research institutes and extension services have been for the most part

shattered. “Large enterprises that were realizing the innovational cycle in the 90s (such as the Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture) have been liquidated, or have ceased to exist due to insufficiency of finances.”[38] And the future looks even bleaker with regard to obtaining the needed investment to renovate the technology sector to its former status. International development partners are not interested in making long term investments in research and implementation of innovations, due to the higher level of financial risk.[39] Dr. Veaceslav Afanasiev’s declaration in 2004, when he was the deputy-minister of the economy, that the 2004 State budget had to be supplemented with an anticipated 600-700 million lei (44-52 million dollars)[40] made it clear that the burden of debt results in great difficulty not only to obtain needed investment for Agricultural Research Development and Extension Systems but in addition in general, the State Budget.

Research Institutes’ Approach to Increasing Agricultural, Including Organic, in Post-Independence Moldova

Given the importance of breathing life back into the system of research into plant protection methods the Agency of Innovation and Technology Transfer of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova has given its support to a recently developed national project aimed at increasing the technological base of the Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture for the production of national methods of biological plant protection and the establishment of an intermediary structure to transfer the knowledge and expertise from the research institute to the farmers. The title of the draft project brief is: “Facilitating the Conversion of Conventional to Ecological Agriculture in Moldova”.

The project aims to invest approximately eleven million USD in the renovation of the pre-independence Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture and the creation of a system to transfer the knowledge and expertise from the institute to the level of the farmer. This component of the project is indispensable for the proper functioning of the technology transfer structure due to the fact that the partnership of extension companies (such as ACSA and AGRO Inform) at the level of juridical entities is weakened by the low level of financial autonomy of research and education organizations.[41]

With the aim of improving the health of the farmers (by way of decreasing chemical pesticide usage and thus pesticide poisonings), as well as the ecology and economy of Moldova, the project endeavours to support the efforts of the Parliament, such as the law on Ecological Agriculture[42], as well as the priority given by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Academy of Sciences to promote and support ecological agriculture.

Such triple-bottom-line approach presents several benefits for Moldova’s agricultural development but also for those of the neighbouring countries. Given that the Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture formerly served the needs of the other Union’s republics in plant protection methods this project has the potential to not only be beneficial in Moldova but throughout the CIS countries. To be precise, by improving the technological infrastructure of the Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture, organic agriculture could have the opportunity to be further developed not just in Moldova but throughout the CIS countries. That is, this institute could serve as a base researching, developing, producing and exporting non-toxic biological preparations throughout the CIS countries. Even today with the rundown state that the institute is in, it is exporting pheromone traps and other non-toxic biological pesticides to other CIS countries.[43]

As the statistics have shown Moldova is an extremely poor country. However, this country once had very high levels of agricultural production, being labeled as the vegetable garden of the USSR, and low levels of poverty. Moldova without a doubt has the potential to regain her former position and indeed agriculture has been concluded to be ‘an important medium-term vehicle for assuring the recovery of the Moldovan economy and laying the necessary basis for the eventual reindustrialization of the country’[44].

The project that has been developed by the author has support spanning from the farmer who wants and needs more technical agronomic assistance to the governmental agency that understands the need for such a project. However, as the Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for the Republic of Moldova points out, obtaining funding for research and implementation of innovations is not an area that international development partners are so keen on investing in.

Yet, with the aim of creating a multi-polar world with poor countries that are more self-sufficient and less technologically subordinate, and thus more politically and
economically independent, this is exactly the type of project that is necessary to achieve truly positive development and thus contribute to a more socially just world.

Author: Randolph Anthony Piazza – Liaison between the Republic of Moldova and the Bolivarian Republic of Moldova; Nationality: USA;

Email: Randolph.Piazza @ gmail.com
——————————————-

[1] http://www.oas.org/udse/cides/espanol/web_cic/MBlackVENDocumento.doc

[2] Soederberg, Susan (2004) The Politics of the New Internacional Financial Architecture:Reimposing Neoliberal Domination in the Global South, Zed Books, page: 165

[3] http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/63/164.html

[4] Soederberg, Susan (2004) The Politics of the New Internacional Financial Architecture: Reimposing Neoliberal Domination in the Global South, Zed Books, page 18

[5] http://www.g77.org/news/pr041902.htm

[6] http://un.org/events/wssd/summaries/envdevj30.htm

[7] http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/1870

[8] http://www.oas.org/udse/cides/espanol/web_cic/MBlackVENDocumento.doc

[9]http://www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/moldova/chapter08.pdf#search=%22moldovan%20agriculturalproductionbeforethefallofthesovietunion

[10] http://www.east-west-wg.org/cst/cst-mold/md-geo.html

[11] http://www.oas.org/udse/cides/espanol/web_cic/MBlackVENDocumento.doc

[12] Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2006) Making Globalization Work, W.W. Norton & Company, Chapter 8: The Burden of Debt

[13] Statistical Yearbook of Moldova (2005) Chapter 4: Population Incomes and Expenditures

[14] http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2004/europe_eurasia/Moldova.pdf#search=%22moldovaagricultureemployment

[15] World Bank (June 12, 2006) MOLDOVA: poverty update. Human Development Sector Unit

Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Country Unit Europe and Central Asia Region

[16] Orlova, Nina & Ronnas Per (2000) Moldova’s Transition to Destitution, pgs 103-104, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency http://www.sida.org/sida/jsp/sida.jsp?d=118&a=17666&language=en_US

[17] Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2006) Making Globalization Work, W.W. Norton & Company, Chapter 8: The Burden of Debt, pg 225

[18] Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2006) Making Globalization Work, W.W. Norton & Company, Chapter 8: The Burden of Debt, pg 227

[19] ibidem

[20] Executive Board — Ninety-second Session (11-13 December 2007) The Republic of Moldova: Country strategic opportunities programme, Rome: IFAD

[21] http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Y0Aa44-_uBAJ:www.redcross.int/EN/mag/magazine2005_2/20-21.html+working+age+population+in+moldova+working+abroad&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=ve

[22] The World Bank (2008) Migration and Remittances Factbook: The World Bank, Washington, D.C

[23] Palacin, Jose & Shelburne, Robert C.( November 2007) Remittances in the CIS: Their Economic Implications and a New Estimation Procedure, UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE Geneva, Switzerland

[24] The Moldovan Governants are still fighting against sleep in full global recession, Nadin LUCHIAN, 27 November 2008

[25] Executive Board — Ninety-second Session (11-13 December 2007) The Republic of Moldova: Country strategic opportunities programme, Rome: IFAD

[26] ibidem

[27] Eds. Mansoor, Ali & Quillin, Bryce (2006) MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES Eastern Europe and theFormer Soviet Union, Europe and Central Asia Region, pgs 65-66: The World Bank, Washington, D.C.

[28] The World Bank (2006) Global Economic Prospects: Economic Implications of Remittances and Migration: The World Bank, Washington, D.C.

[29] Lungescu, Oana (29 September, 2008) Moldova Lives Off Foreign Earnings, BBC News, Carpineni, Moldova

[30] Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (2002) STRATEGY: Improving the Agricultural Research and Development System in the Republic of Moldova: 44. Chisinau 2002

[31]http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:zDybadPRsREJ:www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2006/ee/md.html+moldova+agriculture+employment%25&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=9&lr=lang_en

[32]http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:LmLH5EijQoJ:nature.berkeley.edu/breakthroughs/break_mystory_sp06.php+moldovan+agricultural+production+after+the+fall+of+the+soviet+union&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=9&lr=lang_en

[33] Government of the Republic of Moldova (May 2004) Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for the Republic of Moldova 6.9 AGRI-FOOD SECTOR AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (2004-2006), Chisinau

[34] These figures come from a discussion that Randolph Anthony Piazza had with Mr. Iurie Malanciuc, the head of the directorate of Agro chemistry, Ecology and Plant Protection of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, August 2006, Chisinau Moldova

[35] Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (2002) STRATEGY: Improving the Agricultural Research and Development System in the Republic of Moldova: pg 45. Chisinau 2002

[36] These figures come from a discussion that Randolph Anthony Piazza had with Dr. Leonid Volosciuc, the director of the Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture, August 2006, Chisinau Moldova

[37] Government of the Republic of Moldova (May 2004) Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for the Republic of Moldova 6.7 Research and Innovation (2004-2006), Chisinau

[38] Government of the Republic of Moldova (May 2004) Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for the Republic of Moldova 6.7 Research and Innovation (2004-2006), Chisinau

[39] Government of the Republic of Moldova (May 2004) Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for the Republic of Moldova 6.7 Research and Innovation (2004-2006), Chisinau

[40]http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:JUVyRGFAiJMJ:www.imf.md/press/news04/news-040317.html+veaceslav+afanasiev+economy+44&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ve

[41] Afanasiev, Veaceslav, Dumbraveanu, Nicolae Rosenqvist, Bo (July, 2005) Rural Extension Development Strategy: Rural Investment and Services Project 2006-2009 pp. 13

[42] Law # 115-XVI under Government Decisión #149 on Ecological Agriculture of Moldova passed by the Parliament

[43] These facts come from a discussion that Randolph Anthony Piazza had with Dr. Leonid Volosciuc, the director of the Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture, August 2006, Chisinau Moldova

[44] UNDP (2005) Republic of Moldova: Economic Policies for Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction