Starting today, a two-day training workshop on local products, gastronomy and women’s cooperatives, jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Bahçeşehir University, is taking place in Ordu, with the aim of promoting equal opportunities in education and sustainable development across Turkey.

The event builds on a pilot training course offered in Giresun Piraziz and will form part of an ongoing series of workshops. Over 300 participants are expected to benefit from the training including 80 women currently working in cooperatives in Ordu.

The training is designed to strengthen the role of youth and women in agriculture, maximize benefits from the integration of local agricultural products into national development, contribute to sustainable development, and incorporate innovation into smallholder agriculture, with a view to ensuring a stronger local food system. In addition, the training teaches women and young people about how cooperatives function and introduces technologies related to smart agriculture practices, in particular digital agriculture and sustainable food systems.