Türkiye: Women-led agrifood cooperatives extend a lifeline to earthquake-affected communities

Standing in the middle of piles of earthquake rubble, Cennet Polat, together with members of her community in Kahramanmaraş province of Türkiye sort out relief items to be delivered to people affected by the devastating earthquakes that ripped through the south of the country in February.

“At first, I did not understand what was happening. It was unlike anything I ever witnessed before,” Cennet said, recalling the night of the earthquake. It was that same night that she learned to transform plastic sheets into a makeshift shelter to protect her children from the rain and the snow after their house was destroyed. Little did she know she would be making even bigger transformations in her community in the months to follow.

Cennet is the head of the Mutlu Besin Kooperatifi, a women-led agrifood cooperative in the Türkoğlu district of Kahramanmaraş previously supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through the financial support of the European Union. Before the earthquake, the cooperative produced dried foods and the local favourite Tarhana. With FAO’s support, they increased their production capacity and expanded to the national market. However, after the earthquake and its deadly impact on everyone including her own neighbours, Cennet decided to transform the cooperative into a hub for community survival and revival.

^{Members of the Mutlu Besin Cooperative showing their Tarhana making skills before the earthquake. ©FAO/Turuhan Alkir}

“Thanks to the nationwide network of individuals and organizations we built through our previous collaboration with FAO, we managed to bring assistance trucks to our village of 15 000 people on the third day after the disaster,” Cennet said. Together with other members of the cooperative, they started visiting affected families to identify their needs before distributing emergency supplies, including food, clothing, lights and women's hygiene kits.

But Cennet also wanted to help the women in her community deal with the heavy toll the earthquake took on their mental health. “After the earthquake, many women found themselves with limited access to psychosocial services. This is when the cooperative decided to step in,” she said. “We shared our burdens and sorrows over coffee then returned home with more energy to carry on. We even set up an archery target for shooting practice.” In addition, the cooperative provided a safe space for refugee women to socialize and utilize their skills.

The earthquakes caused widespread damage to agricultural infrastructure and equipment and destroyed 13 284 livestock shelters. It also led to the loss of 815 000 heads of livestock; impacted fisheries and disrupted markets and supply chains. To respond to the mounting needs of agriculture-dependent communities in Türkiye, FAO, in partnership with the Government of Türkiye developed a three-year Earthquake response and recovery plan (ERRP). Thanks to the timely support of Norway and Sweden through the Special Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation Activities, FAO is currently providing urgent seasonal support to 400 farming households and cash assistance to 6 000 rural households. FAO will also provide livestock production inputs to 100 livestock producers and 60 greenhouse producers and disburse unconditional cash assistance to 1 730 fishers.

Seeing the lifeline women-led cooperatives provided to their communities in earthquake-hit provinces, FAO is also supporting the Mutlu Besin Cooperative and 15 others through the ERRP. “Despite the sadness of witnessing these cooperatives suffer because of the earthquake and its repercussions, their strength and determination tells me that recovery is achievable and worth it," Ayşegül Selışık, Assistant FAO Representative in Türkiye said. “With the necessary financial support, FAO can transform the current situation of the cooperatives, providing them with necessary equipment, grants and technical support to sustain production and restore rural livelihoods in the earthquake-hit areas,” she added.