Adding value to sunflower seed production in Moldova Moldova is a sunflower growing country. 90% of the sunflower seed market is for production of sunflower oil. The other 10% is for the premium market of bakery and snack ingredients. The partners in the current application have been doing business for four years in order to serve this premium segment. Due to the high quality requirements, the seed has to be processed in the Netherlands before it can be transported to clients in Western Europe. The partners want to add value to the product in Moldova by starting a hulling and cleaning plant in Moldova that will reach 99.9% purity level.The applicant is a Dutch seed and nuts processing firm, Kremer Zaden B.V.. Third partner is a Dutch grain trader, Maximum Trading B.V.. Both are partners in a successful PSI project in Burkina Faso.Furthermore, they have been working together since the mid-nineties in many commercial ventures.The local partner is Unicaps SRL, a firm that purchases sunflower seed from farmers and which can do first step processing.Once the joint venture has been set up 120 farmers will benefit from increased demand from the joint venture. They will receive training and better agricultural inputs, such as new seed varieties.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)The main CSR components of the project proposal deal with environmental issues, food safety issues and farmer relations. The joint venture intends to train farmers in order to let them minimise the use of fertilisers and pesticides. The joint venture will obtain HACCP certification in the course of the project and EurepGAP certification is favoured among the farmers. The price paid to farmers of the project will be "fair".Impact•	Employment and working conditionsThe joint venture will employ 23 people. Five of them are medium-/high-level workers. The partners are committed to pay medium- and high-level workers 25% above the average wages. Such a commitment is not mentioned for the basic-level workers. EU standards will be applied to insure safety for the workers in the processing plant.•	Innovation / Transfer of knowledgeKnowledge transfer concerns all methods and technology used to get to a 99.9% pure processed product. Furthermore, knowledge will be transferred to all farmers involved as they will be taught to use the right varieties and growing techniques so as to increase their yields and to improve the quality of the yield.•	Chain effectsOn the input side of the production chain 120 sunflower growers benefit from the project. They will gain by having a reliable buyer for their produce and benefit from increasing yields. If need be the joint venture will pre-finance the farmers to help them buy fuel, seeds and chemicals. On the output side of the chain Moldovan economy benefits from the fact that the joint venture will be able to produce a high quality, high purity product that does not have to be re-processed in the Netherlands before being transported to the clients in Western Europe.•	EnvironmentFarmers in former Soviet countries still tend to use too much fertilisers and pesticides. This project will instruct the farmers on the use of optimum amounts. Hulls are also used as they are sold for briquette making for fuel.•	Position of womenThe project implies some physical labour and carrying of bags. Therefore, the percentage of women will be around 30%. The project seeks to add value to sunflower seed production in Moldova by enabling 120 farmers to improve their sunflower yield and by establishing a processing plant for hulling, cleaning and sorting, capable of processing 3,000 tons per year to a 99.9%