Who stands to gain? How Moldovans engage with policies promoting the migration-rural development nexus

In Moldova, migration has become a key strategy for diversifying rural households’ livelihoods. The state and international institutions have launched programmes enhancing the migration-rural development nexus by channelling migrants’ remittances into investments in rural areas. Drawing on qualitative data, the paper explores how supra/national policies aimed at ‘making the most of emigration’ are received or rejected by Moldovan farmers. Using a multi-scalar adaptation of the MOA (Motivation, Opportunity, Ability) framework, the contribution illustrates the factors, conditions and processes that influence farmers’ participation in the call for rural change at different scales (micro-individual level; meso-community level; macro-structural level), emphasizing their agency.