What is the project about?

The overall objective of GTWDP, is to reduce rural poverty by supporting economic diversification through value chain development and sustainable natural resource management.  The Project targets to increase farmers’ income from improved agricultural production and marketing activities in the targeted area with strengthened resilience to climate shocks. The project would also contribute to improving the standards of living of the nomadic Yörük tribes in the highlands of the Taurus Mountains, through capacity building that would assist them to organize for improved management of the common natural resources. The project outcomes would include:

1. sustainably increased farm productivity;
2. higher product prices received by smallholder producers.

The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with the financial support of the International Fund for Agricultural Development  (IFAD).

What has been the situation?

The Project area, Upper Göksu Watershed and the Taşeli Plateau, was selected by Government based on: i) poor socio-economic conditions and continuing rural outmigration; ii) its agro-ecological diversity that enables capitalizing on off-season (both early and late) crop production, particularly fruit production; and iii) its target group, which consists of productive poor that managed to move towards semi-commercial production and resist migration.

What is our mission?

The Project is consistent with the objectives of IFAD’s strategic framework, the study conducted by IFAD on Upper Middle-Income Countries (UMICs) with Turkey as case study and the objectives of the various strategies and action plans of the Government. These include: the Long-term Strategy (2001-2023) aimed at eliminating disparities between rural-urban areas and across regions; the Tenth National Development Plan (2014-2018) comprised of regional development policies for a more balanced distribution of welfare over the country and maximum contribution from all regions; and the Strategic Plan for Agriculture for 2013-2017.

Some cross-cutting strategic goals are:

1. to develop agricultural and social infrastructure services and increase the appeal of rural areas through rural development and improved welfare;
2. to provide food security and accessibility to quality agricultural products while protecting the agricultural resource base;
3. to enhance food reliability in accordance with international standards from production to consumption (‘farm-to-fork’); and
4. to increase crop production by ensuring quality through environment-friendly and effective production systems.

The National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2010-2020 (NCCSAP) identifies the strategies for the agriculture and forestry sectors for climate change adaptation (and reduction of GHG emissions) in vulnerable areas, such as the project area.

How are we doing this?

The GTWDP is being implemented in selected villages of 11 districts of Konya and Karaman provinces of Central Anatolia. These districts are located in the Göksu sub-catchment, one of the four in the East Mediterranean Watershed. The Project area includes 238s villages that are situated in the mountainous parts of the 11 districts where the elevation varies between 600 m and 1 800 m. Each component would focus on elements of the identified value chains.

The GTWDP includes three components namely:

1. Agricultural Productivity and Natural Resource Management;
2. Market Access Enhancement; and
3. Project Management

The components, respectively, have been designed to: i) improve access to effective technical advisory services, new knowledge and skills - particularly in farming as a business, modern inputs, and matching grants to improve adoption of new technologies, including solar energy; ii) build capacity for accessing early warning data through investments and training, while prompting the wider adoption of climate-smart technologies through investments in efficient irrigation and water harvesting, as well as improving land management in the rangelands and marginal agricultural land through investments in terracing; and iii) enhance the producers capacity to voluntarily organize to better interpret and respond to market signals.

How will Turkey benefit?

The project’s contribution to economic welfare is derived from: increased quantity and quality of market-oriented production, better market access, and higher prices due to branding and employment resulting from the investments along the value chains. While the project design foresaw difficulties quantify and estimate the net benefits from reduced water use through drip irrigation, climate change resilience, natural resource rehabilitation, intensification and diversification of farming systems, and employment generation attempts will be made to capture this information to the extent possible through adequate monitoring and evaluation systems.

The project funded by the IFAD and contributed by the Turkish Government is forecast to total nearly 20.42 million Euro including beneficiary contribution according to financing agreement between IFAD and R.T. Ministry of Treasury and Finance.

What has been achieved until today?

The implementation of this project is still in the early stages and the main activities have been in the areas of;

• rainfed crops production through seed/seedlings distribution;
• garden and greenhouse demonstrations
• capacity building for farmers and farmer organizations including on-farm demonstrations;
• a matching grant scheme initially for supporting greenhouse production, fruit orchards and vineyards.

The preliminary results from these investments are very promising in terms of increasing agricultural productivity, fostering strong beneficiary participation and developing strong market linkages in the future.