FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva (left) and Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey Faruk Çelik launch the second phase of the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme.
(© FAO / Giuseppe Carotenuto)

In his opening remarks at today’s ceremony, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva praised Turkey for its significant political and financial support to FAO which is seen as a model of cooperation in the region and globally.

Graziano da Silva said:

We have a long-standing cooperation between FAO and Turkey and this has improved over the recent years and now with the second phase of this partnership programme FAO will be more visible in the subregion.

For his part, Faruk Çelik, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey, said at the ceremony:

We have now completed the first phase of FAO-Turkey partnership programme under which we have realised 28 projects in 7 countries. Under the second phase of the programme launched in Rome and also at a special event in Ankara today, we hope to further widen the scope of the programme and undertake many important initiatives.

With a financial contribution of $10 mln from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Turkey has committed its support to the second phase of the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme initially launched in 2009.

The second phase (2017-2020) will cover activities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and beyond in the field of food security and nutrition, agricultural and rural development, protection and management of natural resources, agricultural policies and food safety.

The Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs has committed to allocate another $10m to FAO-Turkey Forestry Programme to support sustainable management of forests and other natural resources in the region.

The new tranches will bring the total country’s contribution under two partnership programmes to $30 mln making it one of the largest non-EU donors for FAO activities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The $10 million first phase of the programme covering the 2009-16 period has strengthened capacities of farmers, foresters, pastoralists and national authorities in the region to implement modern and sustainable agricultural practices such as conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, livestock productivity and responsible fisheries management among others.

A special Photo Exhibit about the FAO-Turkey Partnership, which will be among five key exhibitions at the FAO Conference, was also inaugurated today by the Minister and FAO Assistant Director-General for Europe and Central Asia Vladimir Rakhmanin.