The Romanian government recognizes that there are current and future problems related to the risk of old-age poverty among elderly farmers, and has been working on sustainable solutions to avert this risk. The main objective of this report is to provide recommendations to the policy makers in Romania in designing a non-contributory program for poor elderly, including farmers. To this end, the report (i) evaluates the current semi-subsistence farming structure and the income situation of farmers in Romania, including access to EU support programs
(ii) provides an overview of the social protection currently available to elderly farmers in Romania through the existing social insurance and social assistance system
and (iii) presents options for a non-contributory scheme for the elderly poor, including farmers, and analyzes the fiscal and poverty impact and the administrative feasibility of each option.