TEKFEN FOUNDATION

Tekfen and TISVA join forces to launch “Women Farmers Loan”

Nis 16, 2021

Tekfen Foundation and Turkey Waste Prevention Foundation (TISVA) once again have collaborated to encourage women to start their own business in agriculture by introducing the “Women Farmers Loan.” Tekfen Holding and Toros Agri will also contribute to the projectas active stakeholders. The first loans will be given in the Aegean Region, which was chosen as a pilot region. Women farmers in this region will be able to use 5,000 to 15,000 TRY of credit, depending on their agricultural activities, and grow all kinds of vegetables, fruits and cereals.

Toros Agri’s agricultural engineers will provide basic agricultural training to women farmers free of charge and technical support during production. Bereket Insurance will also insure the labour and produces of women farmers against natural disasters and incidents under the ‘Imece Insurance’ programme for a very low premium of 20 TRY.

Speaking about the project, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of TISVA Prof. Dr. Aziz Akgül said: “Why do we recommend this loan to women farmers? Because hard working women farmers have a lot to contribute to agriculture! We believe that, thanks to this loan, women farmers will grow a great variety of produces with great efficiency. With this project, women farmers will win, their families will win, and ultimately our country will win”.

Dori Kiss Kalafat, Board Member of Tekfen Foundation, said: “Tekfen and TISVA have been supporting Turkish agriculture and farmers for years. Now it’s time for women farmers. We will provide the loan while women will start and grow their business. They are free to grow any produces they want. We also present them with a ready-made proposal for a high value-added project to grow strawberries. The Women Farmers Loan is not just about providing financial support. We will also provide free training so that women can do their job in the best way possible. We will stand by our farmer women with the expert agricultural engineers of Toros Agri, the largest private sector agricultural conglomerate in our country. We will provide “Basic Agriculture Training” and consultancy on right agricultural practices. TISVA on the other hand will provide “Basic Financial Literacy Training” for women farmers to properly manage their loans and the income they will earn in return for their efforts”.

Burcu Türkeş, Director of Corporate Sustainability, Risk and Governance at Toros Agri, stated: “We consider it to be among our primary goals to bring women to the point they deserve in social and economic life. In that direction, as Toros Agri, we aim to increase their employment opportunities by providing tailored capacity improving programmes, theoretical and practical training and on-site technical support. ‘Teaching them how to fish instead of giving them fish’ is what we aim at with this project”.