Farmers demand state of emergency in the aftermath of the drought in Moldova
Farmers in the Republic of Moldova are threatening to protest.
The first to potentially take to the streets "in the near future" are farmers from the Cahul and Cantemir districts, warns the "Farmers' Force" Association. In a public statement, the farmers criticised the Government's actions and called for a state of emergency in agriculture, asserting that this is the only viable solution to prevent the accumulation of penalties for farmers affected by the drought.
The Association claims that the 100 million lei in support recently announced by the Government "is inefficient and far too small" to stabilise the agricultural sector, which has been severely impacted by climatic conditions. Consequently, farmers are demanding additional and long-term measures.
"The farmers' patience has run out, and there is no more time to wait. More than two months have passed since we alerted the Government to the gravity of the situation and the urgent measures needed. It has already been over 40 days since the Parliament created the Special Commission for Agriculture. The Government's superficiality and the Parliament's disregard for this serious sectoral issue, which directly affects over 1.5 million residents of the country, have prompted farmers from the Cahul and Cantemir districts to decide to start protests in the near future," announced the Farmers' Force.
The Association has pledged to support the farmers' protests and will initiate nationwide consultations with all farmers.
When contacted for a comment, Minister of Agriculture Vladimir Bolea did not respond to our calls.
In the meeting on September 5, the Government allocated 100 million lei from the Intervention Fund for the partial compensation of losses suffered by agricultural producers due to the drought and intense heat this summer. The Head of the Executive assured that efforts to find additional resources to support farmers will continue.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, 5,792 assessments of losses suffered by farmers due to unfavourable climatic conditions in all regions of the country have been completed. This involves 297,000 hectares of agricultural crops, with corn being the most affected.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
