Success Story

New Perspectives for Women

August 2006

YOUNG MOTHER INITIATES VEGETABLE GROWING BUSINESS IN ANTONESTI

Although Olga Cretu has a degree from the Pedagogical Institute, she had been unable to nd work in her home village of Antonesti in Stefan Voda raion to support her four-year-old son. Therefore, she eagerly decided to take part in the joint NPWICS entrepreneurship activity. As a result of the entrepreneurship training, Olga developed a business plan for vegetable production, and was awarded with an in-kind grant worth $800 from ICS. The grant provided her with basic irrigation equipment, seeds and fertilizer this past spring, and enabled her to initiate production soon thereafter. Already, Olga is growing tomatoes, cucumbers, pepper, and eggplants. She sells them both to local villagers and at the market in Stefan Voda. Although basic vegetable production is not particularly difcult, specialized knowledge and proper fertilizer use are necessary to maximize yields and ensure quality. To build her capacity in this area, Olga was referred to the Agency for Consultations and Scholarship in Agriculture (ACSA) in her village. ICS arranged for the Agency to provide her with consultations that helped her successfully plant her rst crop. Now as she looks to the future, she is planning to build a small greenhouse to grow tomatoes and cucumbers during the lucrative early and late growing seasons. Olga started her business to help support her family in her home village. What seemed impossible to us became a reality, Olga says. I feel important and fullled because I am helping to realize our familys goals, and making a personal contribution to our income.
About the Winrock - Italian Consortium Entrepreneurship Activity In September 2005, the USAID-funded New Perspectives for Women (NPW) project signed an agreement with the Italian Consortium of Solidarity (ICS) to collaborate on a project to help vulnerable and at-risk girls and young women in the Moldovan regions of Causeni and Stefan Voda, including the village of Antonesti, to generate additional income. Through this collaboration, NPW conducted intensive, long-term entrepreneurship training for 67 girls from Causeni and 60 girls from Stefan Voda. From this initial group of trainees, 58 girls who had developed business plans for new start-up operations were selected to receive $800 in in-kind grants. The grants were made possible by funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and were provided in the form of equipment required for the start-up of these new businesses by ICS. In addition, participants beneted from extensive follow-on training and consulting assistance facilitated by both Winrock and ICS.

New entrepreneurs from Antonesti share their stories