When he was a teenager, Ion Gaburici used to help the collective farm of Corlateni Village in Moldova to harvest pears and plums. Together with his classmates, he helped harvest the crops, a common practice in the former Soviet Union. Thirty years later the Soviet Union became history, Moldova gained its independence, land was privatized and Ion opened his own business, \MD Ltd. “I wish I could say that I run a big company, but I don’t," Ion said. "Back in 1993, when I started it, I used to collect plums from the entire region, dry them and sell them to Russia. It was a fair business. I would sell up to 300 tons of plums per year.” Because of the increased difficulties in selling to Russian markets after 2005, however, like so many others Ion Gaburici saw his business threatened. Out of five plum orchards in Corlateni, four were abandoned, their owners fearing that they would have no buyers in the harvest period and the investments would bring no revenue. “Many of my suppliers come and ask me what we will do now," Ion said.
They come to Ion because he has an answer.
He sells his produce to Monicol Ltd., which purchases fresh and dried fruit for export to the EU. With CNFA support, Monicol has completely renovated the company’s main drying facility, upgrading its capacity significantly and doubling its profits in the process. To help Moldovan agricultural products find new markets, CNFA’s USAID-funded Agribusiness Development Project (ADP) provides technical support to value chain drivers—companies able to provide high-quality products to meet EU and other international market requirements.
Monicol is a key player in the Moldovan fruit value chain, providing jobs, buying fresh and dried produce and exporting it. The company now provides full-time jobs for 100 employees and seasonal jobs for 400 more. In addition, Monicol is planning to launch a new series of retail products at a competitive price under their own brand on the local market followed by exports to Germany and Baltic states.
“The loss of the Russian markets didn’t affect me as much as other drying fruit companies”, Ion said. “I have a contract with Monicol and now I am selling them both fresh and dried plums. I organized the people from Corlateni to recover one of the abandoned orchards, and we are planning to recover the remaining four.”
For this village, where half of the population is working abroad, Ion’s company provides the needed income and financial motivation to work the fields. Today, many families from Corlateni are harvesting their parcels of the plum orchard just as they did before, but this time, they see the profits. The success of value chain drivers like Monicol makes a real impact on the lives of small companies and family farms, bringing them more chances for increased income and stable future.
