Farmers from five partner communities in North Eastern Romanian have become the first to take part in an important World Vision initiative to assist them in accessing EU funding, expanding their agricultural knowledge and applying for government subsidies for disaster mitigation such as flooding or drought.

During the crucial 2 day course, the thirty five farmers learned how to write a business plan and had the opportunity to visit World Vision's demonstration dairy farm in Crit built and equipped according to latest European standards. The farmers were impressed by its high standard milking installations and the lands surrounding the farm.

'I am here because I have many questions. I'm also hopping that new ideas will arise from this experience. In Romania, each agricultural area is different from the other and I think we have a lot to learn from each others experience', said one of the participants.

'A well written business plan is an essential document in the request for European funds.
Recently integrated in the EU structures, Romania is struggling, among others things, with an acute lack of information. For example, there are 95 communes in Iasi County and the local authorities can provide only 25 agricultural consultants. The farmers are confronted with a frustrating paradox: they know that the EU funds exist but they don't know how to access them', said Marius Stefaniu, World Vision partners and trainer.

'People are confused; they are waiting for someone to tell them not so much what to do but how to do it. Romania's agriculture has many problems at this stage but I am sure that with some help we can al try to do our share to overcome them. All we need is an impulse and someone to guide us. We value all kinds of specific information and we try to learn from experiences like this one', another farmer declared.

According to the World Bank, one third of Romanians live below the poverty line, with less than Euro 1/ day. Also 47. 3% of Romania's population – 10, 245, 000 people lives in rural area, on approximately 89% of country's territory. This is the highest rate of rural population among countries in Central and Eastern Europe. More than 68% of the rural households practice self-subsistence agriculture.

Over the next week, another four groups of farmers from Cluj, Valcea, Craiova and Ialomita will visit World Vision's farm in Crit and participate in the training courses.

The Crit farm was built in 2005 with the support of the US 'Bolthouse Foundation' as an Agricultural Consulting and Learning Centre for farmers and it is part of a new 8 year project. This centre has a demonstration dairy farm with 45 cows and respects the highest European standards for farming.