Sustainable future starts in the field with the 1000 Farmers Endless Prosperity program

8 February 2022 / Istanbul -The 1000 Farmers Endless Prosperity program is launched in 2019 with the goal of increasing the productivity and welfare of farmers and promoting sustainable methods in the fields. Three years later the program has reached almost 4 thousand farmers who produce corn, sunflower and canola in 12 provinces across Turkey and continues to expand the program’s reach to benefits farmers and address climate change. Within the scope of the program, farmers are offered field-specific consultancy services, training and training on digital tools. Within the scope of digital agriculture applications, almost 4 thousand digital soil analyzes have been carried out on an area of 40 thousand hectares, which corresponds to the size of approximately 80 thousand football fields.

Its social, environmental and economic impact grows every year

1000 Farmers Endless Prosperity, which is the first program in Turkey to provide regular consultancy to the largest number of farmers and to calculate social return on investment (SROI)  in the field of agriculture and food. The program is a first with the Progress Report published last year.

Each 1 TL investment in 1000 Farmers Endless Prosperity ensured the social return of 3.03TL in 2021. Thus, the social return of the program increased by 9% compared to the previous year.

Small-scale farmers produce 33 percent of food

Murat Tarakçıoğlu, Chairman and CEO of Cargill Foods META and India, shared the program’s results achieved last year at an online press conference. Tarakçıoğlu stated that the program supported farmers achieving an increase of 23 percent in yield despite the harsh climate conditions and drought last year and added that the farmers in Bursa and Kocaeli were included in the program this year, bringing the total number of provinces to 14. He also emphasized that the 'Barometer' and 'Farmers’ Mind’ researches they conducted with KONDA continue to be expanded towards sustainability issues.

Tarakçıoğlu said: “The world population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. That means feeding 10 billion people. Lack of resources, environmental problems, the climate crisis we are facing will make it difficult to feed so many people. Even today, more than 2 billion people do not have regular access to reliable, nutritious and adequate food. At Cargill we believe focusing on the prosperity of farmers makes the business of agriculture more sustainable for all involved,” said Tarakçıoğlu. “By partnering with farmers through programs like 1000 Farmers Endless Prosperity, we strengthen agricultural supply chains in an economically and sustainable way that helps build more resilient farms and communities.”

Cargill’s goal is to improve the livelihoods of 10 million farmers through training in sustainable agricultural practices and better access to markets by 2030 in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Because more than 33 percent of food is produced by smallholder farmers.  In Turkey, the protection of agricultural land and soil and production with sustainable methods are of great importance for the future of agriculture. 1000 Farmers Endless Prosperity program is the reflection of this perspective in Turkey.

Collaboration with Istanbul Technical University (ITU)  to monitor greenhouse gas emissions

The health of soil affects the future, sustainability and efficiency of the food system. The program collected plastic and hazardous plastic wastes from the fields in the pilot regions within the scope of their cooperation with ITU ITUNOVA Technology Transfer Office on Sustainability Management. In the second phase of our cooperation with ITU, we started the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of maize last year in our Konya and Karaman pilot region. This year the program will expand into sunflower and canola.

Emphasizing that the health of the soil means the health of people and the world, Tarakçıoğlu stated that they started to monitor greenhouse gas emissions in the field this year within the scope of 1000 Farmers Endless Prosperity. “We carried out our first pilot study in monitoring greenhouse gas emissions. Working with an international platform, we make our Carbon Footprint calculations in accordance with the standards. Then, we will expand trainings, practices and one-to-one work with our farmers for Carbon Footprint reduction.”

 

A Farmer Panel was also held with the farmers; Mustafa Güleç, Ceylan Karaoğlan, Umut Ayberk Akbay, İlker Sigo, Adem Ocak and Ceylan Yağlıkara, who participated to the online press conference. Six farmers from Konya, Adana, İzmir and Balıkesir talked about agriculture and how this program contributes to their lives: “We learned the importance of the soil analysis and correct irrigation in technology thanks to the program. We switched to information based production. Thanks to 1000 Farmers Endless Prosperity we are using less fertilizer and having more yield increase. We also reduced our input cost. Now we are doing field maintenance from satellite. We can reach our agricultural engineers at any time. We benefit from meeting different farmers in online platforms, we protect our field against pesticides and agricultural diseases with the information. We also recycle our plastic waste. In order to be beneficial to the environment, this program has contributed a lot to us.”