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As a result of USDA’s intervention, the Balaki Lchak cheese company in Armenia has expanded the variety of cheeses that it produces and has backorders for all of its products. The company is now working to expand its capacity.
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This program helps farmers and agribusinesses grow their
enterprises, increase incomes, and create jobs leading to sustainable
livelihoods for rural populations in Armenia and Georgia, working with the U.S.
and international academic communities and private sector. Focus is on
identifying and solving quality assurance problems in the supply chain,
developing technical and financial packages for farmers and agribusiness to
ensure competitiveness and growth, and building government capacity for trade
and formulating market-based agricultural policy. In Fiscal Year 2005, USDA
received $7.66 million in funding through the Freedom Support Act.
Romania Agribusiness Development and Policy Support Program
Since 1998, USDA has been working in cooperation with the
U.S. Agency for International Development and the Romanian Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development to provide technical assistance and
training through workshops and seminars, technical and scientific exchanges and
third-county field visits.
Background
Prior to 2000, Romania’s agriculture sector was hampered by slow
privatization and inconsistent macroeconomic reform. Since 1990, Romania has
been a net importer of food products due to inefficient farm size and
impediments such as legislative and regulatory shortcomings, shortage of rural
credit, inadequate property laws, and poor infrastructure. All these factors
have affected crop production and increased risk in agriculture. However,
agriculture remains an important sector in the Romanian economy, representing
nearly half of all employment and 12 percent of the country’s total gross
domestic product. In recent years, the Government of Romania has pursued a
comprehensive program of reform and restructuring to reduce state intervention
and create opportunities for significant growth in market-based agriculture and
agribusiness sectors.
Focus
- Creating a more supportive environment for the development, use,
regulation and control of biotechnology and other emerging sciences and
technologies.
- Development of agricultural finance, trade, investment, and credit
instruments.
Success Stories
The agribusiness development program in Romania supported by
USDA has had the following results:
Scientific capacity building. In Year/From Year to Year
(needs timeframe), over 35 aspiring leaders and young scientists in the
agricultural sector have gained knowledge and developed skills to make Romania’s
agricultural sector more productive and competitive through technical training
in the United States on biotechnology, food safety, plant and animal health,
dairy herd management, livestock genetics, water quality management, and animal
waste management.
Food Safety. Training in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Point (HACCP) - protocols for ensuring the hygiene of food processing and
packing - resulted in five Romanian meat processing plants passing U.S. food
safety inspection audits and meeting equivalence requirements. Technical
assistance in satisfying ISO 9000 requirements and establishing a new National
Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority helped prepare Romania for entry
into the European Union.
Rural Credit. A rural finance training program for potential
borrowers, financial consultants, lenders, credit program representatives,
donors, and government officials resulted in credit being extended for a wide
range of operations like farm equipment, bee-keeping, rural tourism, and
commodity processing. Since the program’s inception in February 2004,
approximately 100 new loans worth over $3 million have been initiated.
Forest Management. A two-year training program in private forest
ownership and management awareness resulted in the first international
certification for a private forest landowner in Romania: 18,200 hectares in the Naruja Private Forest District.
Warehouse Receipts. Establishing a system of warehouse receipts
laid the groundwork for the creation of an €89 million joint risk-sharing
facility between the Economic Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Banca Romana Pentru Dezvoltare – Groupe Société Générale. Under the facility,
companies can use commodities stored in warehouses as collateral against loans
for the next crop season, providing agriculture processors and traders across
Romania more access to finance.
Contact:
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service
RomaniaADAPS@fas.usda.gov
Agricultural Technical Assistance Under the Middle East
Partnership Initiative
In support of a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East,
the United States is seeking comprehensive free trade agreements with countries
spanning North Africa and the Middle East by the year 2013. The Middle East
Partnership Initiative is the primary means to promote this goal.
Under the Middle East Partnership Initiative, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture is providing technical assistance and training to
better prepare a cadre of government officials, scientists and private sector
representatives to respond to key agricultural issues that could impede economic
growth and agriculture development. There have been activities to date for
Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the
United Arab Emirates and Yemen. This two-year program focuses on four key needs:
policy and regulatory reform, scientific capacity building, trade capacity
building, and consumer education and outreach.
Contact:
USDA_MEPI@fas.usda.gov
