FAO’s price monitoring project advances in Izmir
Izmir – An inception workshop for the FAO Technical Cooperation Project Support for Improved Cost and Price Monitoring in Agrifood Supply Chain took place in Izmir on 2–5 February 2022. The workshop followed a kickoff meeting held in Ankara on 10 January 2022, and involved the participation of experts from FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF).
The timeliness of the project is underscored by record level increases in food prices, as revealed by the FAO Food Price Index, and the spate of challenges facing the agrifood system including the climate crisis, conflicts and economic shocks. The main objective of the project is to determine the current status of Turkey’s agrifood cost and price monitoring systems with a view to enhancing the capacity of MoAF. Through this project, FAO will support the Ministry in mitigating the negative impacts of these challenges and take necessary measures to address price volatility and price shocks through improved monitoring systems for decision-making. The project will also contribute to the Ministry’s 2019-2023 Strategic Plan and to achieving “Zero Hunger” – the second of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Abdullah Vural, Head of the Management Information Systems and Statistics Department, underlined the importance of monitoring costs and prices of agricultural products at all stages of the agrifood system, especially in the context of increasing inflation and associated impacts on a global scale.
Ayşegül Selışık, FAO Turkey Assistant Representative, emphasized that price and cost monitoring in the agriculture and food sectors is more important now than ever. Selışık pointed out that the project has the potential to enable key relevant practices in the coming years and support food security, while enhancing the Ministry’s capacities in these areas.
The participants discussed the fundamental components of the project and the associated road map, and agreed that the project will make positive contributions to the transformation of the agrifood system.