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Agriculture and Adaptive Capacities
Map 1.3 Moldova Agro-Ecological Zones
N
Northern Central Southern
0
30
60
90 Km
Sources: © Industrial Economics. Used with permission; reuse allowed via Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY 3.0). AEZs adapted from Daradur et al. 2007; National Agency for Rural Development 2007; administrative boundaries based on GADM databases of Global Administrative Areas and used via CC BY 3.0.
sectors such that the agricultural contribution to GDP has declined from 28 percent in 1999 to 11 percent in 2009 (World Bank 2010b). The agriculture sector provided 33 percent of total employment in 2007 (World Bank 2009a). However, much as with Albania, with nearly 91 percent of the rural population earning less than US$5 a day (World Bank 2009e), the vast majority are poor and highly vulnerable to any adverse event that affects the agricultural sector. Production declines in the agricultural sector due to natural hazards (including droughts, floods, hail, frosts, and severe storms) translate into estimated annual losses of 3.5–7.0 percent of Moldova’s GDP (World Bank 2007b). Following particularly severe events, such as the drought of 2006–07, yields of major crops like wheat, maize, and sunflowers have diminished by 50–75 percent. The combined value of agricultural production in 2008 was US$1.27 billion, excluding agribusiness and services (National Bureau of Statistics 2009). As shown in table 1.2, the plant sector accounts for more than half the value of production. Plant production accounts for about 69 percent of the value of production, and livestock production makes up the remainder. Although cereal field crops such as wheat and maize are grown extensively and occupy about 65 percent of the cropping land (see figure 1.2), Looking Beyond the Horizon • http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9768-8