EU and UNDP launch an initiative to enhance agricultural governance and rural employment in Moldova

The European Union (EU), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is launching a three-year, EUR 3 million project aimed at strengthening digital governance in agriculture and improving employment opportunities for vulnerable populations in rural Moldova. The EU-funded initiative will deliver a Digital National Farmers Register, modernized employment services, and inclusive tools enabling access to decent work and agricultural support. 

The project will pursue two complementary objectives. The first focuses on improving access to employment services through digital transformation of the National Employment Agency. The second supports the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture in expanding the Digital National Farmers Register nationwide — a key step toward establishing the Integrated Administration and Control System aligned with the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. 

“Through this partnership, the European Union is helping Moldova to build a modern, inclusive, and digitally empowered rural economy. This project marks an important step toward modernizing Moldova’s agricultural and employment systems. By expanding digital tools nationwide, we are making public services more efficient, transparent, and accessible to every citizen. Building a National Farmers Register is vital for Moldova’s EU accession as it ensures compliance with the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy requirements. It benefits citizens and the farming community by ensuring fair access to agricultural subsidies, improving food safety and traceability, and supporting rural development through better-informed agricultural policies,” stated Iwona Piórko, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova. 

“This EU-UNDP project reflects our shared commitment to make Moldovan institutions responsive and people’s lives more secure. By improving how employment services reach vulnerable groups and how farmers access support, we help create a fairer, more inclusive system that works for everyone. Digital innovation is part of this transformation – not as a goal in itself, but as a tool that connects people, data, and decisions for better results and stronger public trust,” said Daniela Gasparikova, UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova. 

The National Employment Agency will be assisted in developing a modern and interoperable Management Information System to replace outdated platforms and improve access to employment services for all. The new system will enable online registration, automatic matching of jobseekers with vacancies, and better coordination between employment and social assistance programmes. It will also introduce integrated case management tools that allow employment counsellors to tailor support to vulnerable groups — including hard-to-employ, women, youth, people with disabilities, and returning migrants — helping them connect to training, jobs, and other types of support. In parallel, the project will strengthen the National Employment Agency’s analytical and forecasting capacity, allowing for data-driven policy decisions and improved collaboration with employers at the national and local levels. 

“We welcome this partnership as a major step toward building an employment system that gives social protection to everyone. By digitalizing employment services, we are improving access, transparency, and efficiency, while ensuring that people in rural and vulnerable communities can more easily find decent work and connect to opportunities. Together with our partners, we are advancing Moldova’s transition toward a more inclusive, modern, and people-centered labour market”, mentioned Natalia Plugaru, Minister of Labour of Social Protection. 

The project will support the national expansion of the Digital National Farmers Register, which will contribute to a more transparent and efficient agricultural governance. The institutional and digital capacities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture will be strengthened, to enable delivery of modern, data-driven subsidy management and improved services for farmers. Smallholders, women, and rural youth will be supported to register and benefit from the new digital systems. Through partnerships with farmers’ associations and regional outreach campaigns, the initiative will promote digital literacy, awareness, and equitable participation in agriculture. All these efforts will help advance Moldova’s gradual alignment with European agricultural standards and foster a more inclusive, sustainable, and competitive rural economy. 

“The Digital National Farmers Register is one of the most important tools for our country’s agriculture. Through this system, we will know exactly who works the land, what crops they grow and under what conditions they operate. This will make the process of granting subsidies more predictable and simpler for every farmer. It is a reform that brings order and trust — both for farmers and for state institutions. Accurate data will help us design better agricultural policies, use public funds more efficiently, and avoid errors in payments. At the same time, the Farmers Register brings us closer to European practices, where every hectare is digitally monitored and support is provided in the spirit of transparency,” said Ludmila Catlabuga, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry. 

This new project builds on development partners’ work in supporting Moldova’s digital governance and development. In social protection, UNDP, UNICEF, Germany and Italy have assisted the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection in establishing the Digital Centre for Social Innovation and developing the eSocial platform, which will integrate social assistance and employment services. UNDP also supported the Government in implementing the Energy Vulnerability Reduction Fund, enabling assisted registration for hundreds of thousands of households. In the latest heating season, 10 European Union countries contributed to the fund, supporting vulnerable households to cover the bills. 

In agriculture, UNDP and the Government of Japan provided crucial technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry for the development and piloting of the Digital 

National Farmers Register, including data collection for over 20,000 farmers and the use of AI-based land monitoring tools. These lay the groundwork for the upcoming national rollout and for building institutional capacity that ensures sustainable, inclusive, and EU-aligned agricultural governance.