FAO buttresses growing cooperation between Turkey and Africa
As Turkey extends to Africa an offer of increased cooperation – on food security and nutrition, agricultural development, sustainable natural resource management, youth employment and gender, agricultural trade and investment and other technical areas – FAO is playing a strong supporting role.
Opening today in Antalya is a two-day conference dedicated to forging new avenues of cooperation between Africa and Turkey. Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia joins the Turkey-Africa First Agriculture Ministers Meeting and Agribusiness Forum, where he is scheduled to speak at the plenary session, moderate a panel discussion, participate in side events and meet with officials from Turkey and the Africa region.
Deputy Regional Representative for Africa and FAO Representative in Ghana, Abebe Haile Gabriel will also participate and engage with ministers on FAO’s work on strategic agricultural investment opportunities in Africa.
Chief among the Forum’s objectives is to identify specific ways in which Turkey can share its experience and expertise with African countries in crop and livestock farming and related areas, and increase the current level of cooperation in agricultural trade and investments.
In recent years, relations between Africa and Turkey have increased significantly in many fields including the agriculture sector. The decision to organize the meeting was made at the Senior Officials Meeting on 19 March 2015.
More than 40 Ministers of Agriculture from African countries are expected to participate in the Ministers Meeting and Agribusiness Forum. International organizations including FAO and the African Union Commission, national partners, and private sector representatives from both Turkey and Africa have also travelled to Antalya to attend.
Delivering the keynote address at the plenary session of the Meeting, FAO’s Rakhmanin underscored the significance of inter-regional cooperation in agriculture. He also outlined in broad strokes the role of FAO in Africa.
“FAO has a history of exemplary cooperation with Turkey, and is very much engaged in Africa with work on food security,” Rakhmanin said. “We are ready to bring our expertise to the table, as Turkey engages with Africa on agriculture, food security and nutrition.”
In addition to the Ministers Meeting and Agribusiness Forum, several side events are planned: on agricultural financing and credits, agricultural mechanization and irrigation systems, climate resilience, agricultural trade and investment, agricultural inputs, agroindustry, youth employment and women in rural development, and food and nutrition security.
Additional information
FAO in Africa
FAO’s Regional Office for Africa, located in Accra, Ghana, advocates strong regional partnerships and timely support from its network of country offices and sub-regional offices. The regional office focuses on coordinating normative and policy work, leadership of the Organization’s technical networks, priority setting and strategic planning, and resource mobilization.
Unlocking Africa’s Agriculture Potential
Almost half of the Earth’s arable land is in Africa. With almost 200 million people aged 15-24, Africa has the youngest population in the world, which is expected to double by 2045. But more importantly, the value of the continent’s food and agricultural market is projected to reach 1 trillion dollar by 2030.
FAO works closely with Turkey and African countries, as well as other partners to unlock Africa’s agriculture potential for a sustainable and inclusive growth.
FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme
Two FAO-Turkey Partnership Programmes aim to provide a substantive, financial and operational framework for active cooperation on food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable management of forests and tree resources. The programmes benefit those countries assisted by FAO’s Subregional Office for Central Asia – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan – and beyond.
For Turkey, the Forum offers a window of opportunity for accelerating its contribution to an improved food security and nutrition in Africa through FAO strategic programmes and regional initiatives, and the operationalization of the Framework for Action of the second International Conference on Nutrition – under the UN-Decade of Action on Nutrition and the Sustainable Development Goals, and also in line with the Continental Implementation Strategy and Roadmap of the 2014 Malabo Declaration.
27 April, Antalya, Turkey