FAO-Turkey Partnership is determined to “leave no one behind” in agriculture
Ankara – Rural women provide significant contributions to agriculture and food security while simultaneously taking care of their families and households. This heavy burden often goes unrecognized and uncompensated.
In addition, rural women face barriers in access to resources such as property (including land), credit, technologies, decent employment, information and skills. FAO data indicate that gender-based inequalities are largely responsible for the underperformance of the agriculture sector.
To address these issues, the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme on Food and Agriculture initiated a unique project entitled “Leaving no one behind: Harnessing Opportunities for Economic Growth through the Greater Involvement and Empowerment of Rural Women in Turkey and Central Asia”.
Beginning in October 2021, the project aims to help rural women in Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan gain crucial knowledge and skills to increase the productivity of their farms, start businesses and cooperatives, and become empowered agents of change in their communities. At the same time, policymakers and practitioners will enhance capacities to formulate evidence-based, socially inclusive and gender-responsive policies in agriculture and food security – and translate these policies into action. This will be achieved through a variety of approaches including an opportunity for the ministries of agriculture of Turkey, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to share best practices and policy solutions through a regional platform and networking opportunities.
The project has a budget of USD 950 000 and will last for three years until October 2024.
About the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programmes
The objectives of the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programmes are to provide support to ensure food security, rural poverty reduction and sustainable forest management; combat desertification; and preserve ecosystems in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and other countries of mutual interest.
Established in 2007, the first phase of the FAO Turkey Partnership Programme on Food and Agriculture (FTPP) has benefited from trust fund contributions totalling USD 10 million, financed by the Government of Turkey and represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. During the first phase of the programme, 28 projects were implemented in 16 countries between 2009 and 2015.
In 2014, Turkey and FAO commenced the second phase of the FTPP along with the first phase of the FAO-Turkey Forestry Partnership Programme (FTFP) with additional funding of USD 20 million, bringing Turkey’s total contribution to USD 30 million.
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