The view from the crest of the hill is stunning. The road ahead curves to the right, sweeping past rows upon rows of grape vines. Across the road from the vineyards, acres of fruit trees stand, following the road as it dives into a valley. Surrounding the vineyards and orchards, the plowed ground in the March winter is jet black. It is so rich and inviting I want to stop the car and touch it.

I am driving through Moldova, in eastern Europe. The mention of this country usually stops a conversation, for it is not a common travel destination. But I am in Moldova as a volunteer for Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs (CNFA), one of several USAID-funded groups that operate agribusiness programs in developing countries. These programs seek farmers to volunteer their services as short-term consultants on many kinds of agricultural projects. My trip to Moldova was my fifth for CNFA, with previous assignments in Tatarstan, Russia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Moldova, a former Soviet republic nestled between Romania and Ukraine, is an undiscovered gem. It is beautiful, even in winter. The rich countryside yields great fruits and vegetables, and wine that is sought after in Europe. It is home to 4 million people, handsome and charming. An independent republic the size of the state of Maryland, its population is largely rural, with villages scattered across the countryside. Its soil, rich and dark, is its major gift.

Politically, it is in turmoil, as it has been for centuries. It has been tossed back and forth between Romania and Russia, and granted independence in 1991. Moldova itself has a break-away republic, Transdniestr, which prefers to remain Russian. Lately there have been almost daily protests over the current Communist government’s plan to require that Russian be taught in schools. Eighty thousand protestors gathered in Chisinau, the capital, in March. Moldova is the poorest country in Europe, where the average income per month is 450 lei ($30) per month.
For three weeks in February and March, I taught leaders of a newly formed cooperative about vegetable marketing. The

Tiglau Cooperative, with 142 members, is located in Corjeuti, in the far northwest corner of Moldova near the Romanian border. The Tiglau farmers have received the help of four previous volunteers, and their project is a modest success story. Most own three hectares of land, and lease more.

Like most farmers in the former Soviet republics, the Tiglau growers have no trouble producing crops. The problem they face is that everyone grows the same thing (potatoes, cabbage and tomatoes), and they don’t have the right place to sell their crops for a decent price.

But unlike most other farmers, the Tiglau Cooperative has taken advantage of help available from CNFA. Previous volunteers worked with Tiglau on greenhouse techniques, development of seed potatoes, business planning and farm management. Tiglau has four greenhouses, built for them by Dutch Agriplan, a program funded by a European program similar to CNFA. They have a new packing line and storage shed, tractors and field equipment. There is a new office building, with telephone and computer.

The cooperative was started as a service, not marketing, cooperative when land was privatized in the mid 1990s. The members pay a fee to use the equipment, and share the greenhouses.

Since no individual owns a truck, they contract together to hire transport for large loads. Currently, some members sell produce in central markets of nearby villages. The largest, and preferred, market is in Chisinau, three hours away.
Cities and villages in Moldova all have markets, European style elbows-out shopping places where you can buy everything from toilet paper, auto parts and bras to poultry (alive and dressed), vegetables, fruit, dairy products and meat.
Farmers must have a permit if they want to sell at these retail markets. In the smaller villages, some appear with a few quarts of milk, a few eggs or sunflower seeds.

In Chisinau, the competition is more fierce and the prices a bit higher, but not by much.
Mostly, the Tiglau farmers take their potatoes, tomatoes and cabbage to the wholesale market, where they know they can sell their truckloads. Recently, they have begun growing peppers, and selling seed potatoes and vegetable seedlings. Their status, compared to other village farmers, is advanced.

When CNFA accepts a project (cooperatives and businesses must apply), it develops a strategy for helping the group. The goal at Tiglau is to get them to develop a marketing plan that will allow them to sell their crops, as a group, for more money.

My students for two and half weeks of workshops were Ion Stinca, chairman of the board of Tiglau, Petru Gricean, marketing director, and five other board members. I taught the theory and practice of marketing, with emphasis on the practicalities needed to help them make more money.

We brainstormed over several ideas members had proposed: setting up a central collection point and exporting; local retail stores; marketing seed potatoes and seedlings more aggressively; processing or canning; trying new vegetables. By the end of the sessions, they had analyzed ideas and rated them by feasibility. Along the way, we practiced marketing and display skills. I may be the first volunteer to teach “stack it tall and sell it all.”

Stinca, who was agronomist for the old collective farm at Tiglau, has been in the United States, and is eager to try things he saw. This year he is growing more peppers. His other goal is to establish training in America for younger Tiglau farmers.
My marketing assignment with Tiglau was the last under the current CNFA project. Tiglau is planning to apply again to ask for help for additional volunteers. Their priorities, they decided, are to try to grow new vegetables and export, in spite of enormous government-imposed obstacles.

The Tiglau story is one of many, not all so successful. This year CNFA fielded 150 volunteers. They send volunteers to the former Soviet republics and southern Africa, with a budget of $6 million for four years in the former republics and $3.2 million in Africa.

Tim White, program officer for CNFA’s Small Enterprise Development Program, describes their projects as “farmer-to-farmer, ….customized, practical training to small-scale farmers and agricultural business owners.” White said they seek volunteers who can share their “know-how” and empower their hosts to solve problems.

In Moldova, I stayed with a family in the Corjeuti and traveled to Chisinau on weekends. I stayed in a modern apartment in Chisinau and a new home (running water, electricity and outdoor toilets) in Corjeuti. Other assignments had more primitive accommodations. In Zimbabwe, I stayed with an extension agent at the Johannadale irrigation district (no electricity, running water, or toilets).

Other organizations such as Volunteers in Overseas Assistance (VOCA) also send volunteers. Hiu Newcomb, owner of Potomac Vegetable Farms in northern Virginia, has traveled to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Mongolia. In Belarus, Newcomb helped a farmer develop a farm/business plan. In Kazakhstan she worked with an entrepreneur trying to complete a winery. His plan stalled for lack of money and government permits, and he was contemplating using the wine tanks for pickles. While he was trying to complete his winery, his only income was from selling cookies he made in his winery.

In Mongolia, Newcomb gave seminars on organic farming to farmers who had received cows, goats and sheep when land was privatized. Many of those under 50 had no knowledge about growing food because they had received food from collective farms or had gotten imported food. She tried to teach older farmers with experience to mentor younger growers, to compost and use season extending cold frames.

Newcomb said she hopes others can become inspired to try volunteer work.

CNFA seeks people with experience in all areas of agriculture, from organization development to technology. CNFA makes travel arrangements and provides thorough briefing materials. All expenses are paid by CNFA. There are CNFA offices in host countries with professional staff who help with the assignment. Translators and drivers are provided. VOCA operates similarly.

Several potential volunteers I have tried to recruit say they don’t know what they could contribute. Some projects involve people who are working with wooden implements, not tractors, and the most basic of skills. What you think may be inconsequential information will probably be totally new to your hosts, and the gratification you receive from imparting it will be enormous.

One of the nicest “thank yous” I received was from a group of women farmers in Zambia, whose farming is more for subsistence than profit. At the end of our session, they stood and sang a lovely tribal song.

Information about CNFA is available on its website at www.cnfa.com. Its address is: 1111 19th Street, N.W., Suite 900., Washington, D.C. 20036. VOCA has an office in Washington, D.C. at 50 F Street, N.W., Suite 1075, 20001. Its website is www.acdivoca.org.

Louise Swartzwalder has a market farm in Ohio and a bakery in Takoma Park, Maryland, and she is a vendor at farmers’ markets in both places. She wrote about her dual jobs in the October 2001 issue of GFM.