Sustainable development of the vegetable sector in the context of ensuring food security in the Republic of Moldova

The vegetable sector of the Republic of Moldova plays an important role in ensuring the food security of the population. The physical availability and economic access to vegetables are of particular importance for provision of the population with the necessary dietary norms. In the context of the more acute effects of climate changes, the sector faces important challenges in its development, and more issues - in ensuring its sustainability. The paper aims to analyze the current state of the vegetable sector of the Republic of Moldova and provide recommendations for its further sustainable development in the context of ensuring food security of the country. The methods applied are the analytical ones, synthesis and comparison, aimed at describing the sector's evolution. The paper concludes that the underdevelopment of the vegetable sector is affecting the food security in a specific way, especially the vulnerable groups of the population, and important steps are to be taken in order to efficiently contribute to increasing its added value through development of the processing branch, organic agriculture, production of frozen vegetables, introducing new varieties of vegetables and creation of profile associations aimed at representing the interests of producers