FAO and Turkey sign cooperation agreement
Food security, nutrition, food safety, and natural resource management are important components of a five-year cooperation agreement signed recently between FAO and Turkey.
Covering the period 2016-2020, FAO’s new Country Programming Framework for Turkey addresses food and nutrition security and food safety, sustainable management of forests and natural resources including fisheries, and institutional capacity enhancement of public and private sectors.
Work carried out under the agreement will also reflect the internationally accepted Sustainable Development Goals, and assist Turkey with incorporating the Goals in its national policy documents on agriculture and rural development.
‘This agreement will ensure future collaboration and cooperation
on sustainable agricultural development and food security.’
Yuriko Shoji
FAO Subregional Coordinator
for Europe and Central Asia
“Implementation of the Country Programming Framework will ensure future collaboration and cooperation with the government of Turkey on sustainable agricultural development and food security,” said Yuriko Shoji, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and FAO Representative in Turkey. “The Organization will provide overall policy advice and technical assistance in the areas of food security, sustainable natural resources management and institutional capacity building.”
Food and nutrition security and food safety
The first priority is to ensure food security and agricultural development by strengthening agricultural infrastructure, building capacity in the area of processing, value addition and efficient utilization of agricultural products, and improving the living standards of rural people including women. Food safety is an important aspect of this work.
Forests and natural resources, including fisheries
The second priority is sustainable management of natural resources including forests, land and soil, and fisheries. It also covers climate change mitigation and adaptation in the agriculture and forestry sectors, and making make livelihoods more resilient in the face of natural disasters and crises. FAO is promoting “climate-smart” agriculture production systems.
Building capacity in the public and private sectors
Strengthening the capacity of organizations related to the agricultural and forestry sectors so that they can deliver better services is the third priority in the new agreement. It encourages the empowerment of women and youth in agriculture and forestry. Rural social policy will be integrated into existing social protection policies. Collaboration and coordination among government institutions, NGOs and the private sector will be encouraged, particularly on natural resource management.
FAO-Turkey Country Programming Framework was developed through a participatory process, in close cooperation with relevant Ministries and national institutions as well as development partners. Key partners are Turkey’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, and Ministry of Development.
Activities outlined in the agreement have a total resource requirement of US$ 28 million over the five-year period. An estimated US$ 12 million is already available, while the remainder will need to be raised from internal and external resources including the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme and the FAO-Turkey Forestry Partnership Programme.
Turkey – which hosts FAO’s Subregional Office for Central Asia – provides assistance and expertise on food security and rural poverty reduction to other countries in the region, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
13 July 2017, Ankara, Turkey