Moldova Transition to High-Value Agriculture Project Evaluation

Mathematica conducted a mixed-methods performance evaluation of the project that drew on administrative data collected by Water User Associations, survey data collected from farmers, and data from in-depth interviews with program participants, administrators, government authorities, and other stakeholders. 

The evaluation concluded that the project was successful in rehabilitating irrigation infrastructure, establishing Water User Associations, and transferring the management of irrigation systems to those associations. Though there were related increases in irrigation use and cultivation of high-value crops, those changes occurred among a relatively small group of farms and over a smaller-than-expected land area. Consequently, the project likely did not generate the envisaged increases in rural incomes. Farmers indicated that limited access to sales markets and limited availability of agricultural labor were key barriers to cultivation of high-value crops; improved employment opportunities for Moldovans in the European Union and increases in real wages in other economic sectors within Moldova also weakened interest in small-scale agriculture.