FAO and Türkiye Partnership

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Türkiye
Republic of Türkiye - Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Support to the transformation of Economic Cooperation Organization Food Security Coordination Centre (ECO-RCC)



Project overview:

Recent evidence continues to signal a global rise in food insecurity and a reversal of trends following a prolonged decline. This trend is found in most countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). According to latest estimate, 59 million people are still suffering from undernourishment in the ECO region, indicating that about 13 percent of the regional population is still food insecure.

Continued efforts to improve food security and achieve zero hunger are needed in all the countries of ECO. Furthermore, prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing in almost all ECO member countries, particularly in middle-income countries and urban areas, with a corresponding increase in the risk of serious health problems.

The Economic Cooperation Organization Regional Coordination Centre for Food Security (ECO-RCC) was established in 2012 as a programme-based subsidiary body of the ECO dealing with food security, with the aim to facilitate the identification and prioritization of key impediments to food security at national and regional levels, and the planning of coordinated actions to address those impediments. The Centre benefited from the support of the “ECO Regional Coordination Centre for Food Security (GCP/RER/044/TUR)” project, which was financed by the first phase of the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme (FTPP), through which FAO provided technical support to enhance the Centre’s institutional capacities.

The key outputs of the project are as follows:

  • Enhancement of the capacity of ECO-RCC in food security analysis, programme development and management;

  • Identification of priority intervention areas by ECO-RCC in consultation with member countries, based on the evidence provided, to be shared with relevant donors including IFIs for funding;

  • Development of basic ECO-RCC documents including the charter, strategic plan, organigram and work plan, and subsequent approval by the ECO-RCC Steering Committee;

  • Increased recognition of ECO-RCC’s mandate, activities and operational framework among the member states of the ECO.

Apart from the ECO-RCC, other beneficiaries of the project include the ECO, the food security policy-makers of member countries and eventually the food insecure and vulnerable households and individuals in ECO member states. ECO-RCC will support the development and implementation of ECO’s strategic programme to address the main impediments to food security at national and regional levels, complementing the initiatives and policies of each country.

Among other activities, the project will provide technical support to ECO-RCC to develop an Overview of Food Security in ECO Countries and to update the ECO Regional Programme for Food Security (RPFS).

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