Press release number: IFAD 19/04

Ankara, 6 May 2004 – About 200 villages in two of the poorest provinces in Turkey will benefit from a new project designed to improve agricultural production, expand employment opportunities and foster community development.

The USD 30 million project will be financed partly by a USD 13.1 million loan to the Republic of Turkey from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and a USD 9.9 million loan from The OPEC Fund. The loan agreement was signed today in Ankara by Mr. Ibrahim Çanakçi, Undersecretary of Treasury and Cyril Enweze, IFAD’s Vice President.

The project will target some 50,000 people in two adjoining provinces in eastern Turkey – Sivas and Erzincan – and support the Turkish government’s poverty-reduction efforts. Rural poverty is widespread in the eastern part of Turkey, largely due to environmental degradation and a lack of employment opportunities outside the agricultural sector. Agriculture employs almost half the project area’s population, and 90 percent of rural women working outside the home. Small farmers, livestock herders and women will be among the principal participants in the seven-year project.

One of the key aspects of the Sivas-Erzincan project will be community-driven development. The project will work to establish various village associations, including development committees, cooperatives, women’s farming groups, and water users’ and grazing associations, and provide training and technical assistance to their managers and members.

“Our experience in the field has shown that community institutions are essential for the sustainable management of natural resources, especially communal resources such as grazing lands and water,” says Enweze. “Community institutions also help empower small producers and improve their bargaining position in the marketplace.”

These grassroots associations will then help the project gather information about local people’s needs and encourage community participation in project activities.

“Women will be especially encouraged to participate in project activities in hopes of drawing more women into public life and giving them a voice in community affairs,” says Enweze.

Working with community groups will also help the project address constraints on agricultural production in the area, such as limited access to financial services, marketing opportunities and technical knowledge, and establish more opportunities for microenterprises outside agriculture.

With this loan, IFAD will have financed 6 projects in Turkey, totaling over USD 91 million.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to combating rural poverty in the most disadvantaged regions of the world. Since 1978, IFAD has invested USD 8.1 billion in 653 rural development projects and programme in 115 countries and territories. Through these projects and programmes, about 250 million rural people have been supported in their efforts to overcome poverty.