Agricultural Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project Annual Report for Project Year Four

The project's main objective is to increase the competitiveness of the Moldovan agricultural sector, with a focus on the production, processing, and marketing of high value agricultural crops. The project is divided into two components: Component 1, Growing HVA Sales, and Component 2, Enterprise Development in Transnistria. Component 1 aims to increase the competitiveness of the Moldovan agricultural sector by supporting the production, processing, and marketing of high value agricultural crops. Activities within this component are national in scope, with a special emphasis on areas that will benefit from the MCC-financed rehabilitation of central irrigation systems under the MCC Transition to High Value Agriculture Project (THVA). The component has a budget of approximately 86% of the total project budget, with about 30% of that funding coming from MCC. Component 2 focuses on economic development in the Transnistria region, also known as the Left Bank. The project works to improve the competitiveness of micro, small, and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) and relevant Business Service Providers (BSPs) in Transnistria. The main objective is to support the development of, and enhance the competitiveness of, Transnistrian MSMEs in both HVA and non-HVA agricultural value chains. Associated with this is assistance to Transnistrian BSPs that can provide essential technical and managerial services to these MSMEs. The project design team adopted a value chain approach as the most effective way to address the ambitious objectives set out for Component 1. This approach requires a comprehensive description and analysis of what happens to a product throughout its production, processing, distribution, and marketing cycle. The value chain approach examines the production process, as well as relevant external factors necessary to support and sustain the production, distribution, and marketing processes. During Project Year Four, ACED carried out a large number of activities and events, and producers and farmers began to change their behavior. The project facilitated $25,128,526 in sales to date, with the bulk of that occurring over the past two years (Years Three and Four). By March 31, 2015, ACED recorded the following results: 5,676 producers had been trained, exceeding the Year Five life-of-project target of 4,300. Of those, 2,006 producers reported that they have adopted improved practices, with 36 percent (723) of them being women. ACED also recorded $12.1 million in new investments, including more than $10.8 million in much-needed post-harvest handling infrastructure that will upgrade the capabilities and competitiveness of the targeted value chains. As of March 31, 2015, ACED had recorded more than $25.1 million in sales facilitated, with 1,264 producers reporting having had sales facilitated, including 276 of those sales being from either women-owned or women-managed producers. The project's success stories, as well as the information contained in the Performance Monitoring & Evaluation report and the ACED End-Of-Year Survey Report, complement and enhance the reporting on the events, activities, successes, and impacts that are described throughout the narrative report.