Experts From Turkey in Israel

All the participants are involved in the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP in its Turkish acronym), a people-centered development project, the aim of which is to increase the income level and the standard of living of the area's inhabitants. Covering 75,358 square kilometers, and consisting of nine provinces with some 5.2 million inhabitants in what is one of the country's lesser developed regions, GAP is the largest integrated project ever planned and implemented in Turkey.

In Kibbutz Shefayim on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, their home for the duration of the course at CINADCO's training center, the experts listened to and discussed such wide-ranging topics as Efficient and Effective Management, Rural Development Towards the 21st Century, Information Systems and Production Systems, Agribusiness Initiatives, and the Role of Women in Agricultural Development. Inbetween lectures they also toured the country, examining sewage reclamation projects in the Dan Region, visiting the Volcani Institute, Israel's Agricultural Research Organization, flower nurseries in the Lachish Region and tomato production in greenhouses in the Sharon Valley.

It was the second such tailor-made course organized by MASHAV and CINADCO for experts from Turkey - the first for managers, this second for technicians. In addition to cementing even further the relations between Turkey and Israel, the purpose of the course was to demonstrate to an interdisciplinary group of people what Israel has done and is doing in regional development and to share its experience in the agricultural sphere for the benefit of both countries. GAP was chosen because it is a developing region with special problems under the direct responsibility of the Turkish Prime Minister's Office and one of the areas in which the Turkish government, together with a number of international institutions, has most heavily invested.

It is one of those bright Mediterranean winter days with a gently waning sun, as we arrive in Shefayim, a sprawling picturesque kibbutz village with facilities for many guests. We find Yehuda Rozenblum, an agroeconomist, who is a director of Spanish and English courses in CINADCO's center at Kibbutz Shefayim. Rozenblum talks with enthusiasm about the group. "They are all outstanding people," he says, referring to the 30 experts from Turkey.

The first interviewee Rozenblum introduces to us is Ilgi Ersan, the leader of the Turkish group, who talks about her work in the past and her plans for the future. An architect by profession, Ersan has had 20 years' experience in her field, counting among her achievements participation in the construction of the Dikmen Valley project in Ankara. "It was a shanty town in the middle of our capital," she explains. "We had to demolish the houses and plan a totally new complex. Today it is a residential and commercial area with a lovely green expanse as well."

Ilgi Ersan is currently one of a GAP team of 14 experts in various fields monitoring the progress of: l. the creation of infrastructure, 2. channeling of wastewater and its reclamation, and 3. the reforestation in three GAP regions - Akcakale (20,000 inhabitants), Ceylanpinar and Kahta (5,000 inhabitants each). In each case, the municipalities provide some of the financing and the labor force, while GAP helps with items such as cement, iron, sewage pipes, etc., as well as with the experts who monitor and evaluate.

In an effort to increase the income levels of farmers, Ersan adds, a tomato processing factory is being planned for the 60 farmers living in 10 villages. "This is a project proposal coming from our group, a project we developed during our stay here," she declares. "We think it is needed, feasible and applicable. Now we have to try to persuade the decision-makers in the GAP administration to talk to and convince the farmers and to apply the proposal." The project proposal coincides with GAP's policy of introducing new crop varieties and of improving the quality of existing crops, she states. "And a tomato processing plant will help improve the employment situation, since such a plant is labor-intensive. At present, most of the vegetables are being brought from outside the region. In the GAP region we have good climatic conditions and, according to research recently conducted to see which vegetables can grow there, it was found that some 40 different varieties of vegetables had been - and could be - planted with good results."

Mehmet Acikgoz, an agricultural engineer, concurs with his group leader. He stresses that tomatoes and many other vegetables do not as yet figure in the diet of the region's inhabitants. "Their dietary regime consists mainly of meat, lentils, dry beans and bread. We hope to be able to add healthy variety to people's eating habits," he states, "We want to promote various vegetables, for instance the tomato. Acikgoz lives in Sanliurfa, a city of 400,000 in the GAP region, a distance of 868 kms from Ankara. The eight other regions in GAP are Adiyaman, Batman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Mardin, Sirnak, Siirt and Kilis.

Mehmet Acikgoz explains that the 1.5 million inhabitants of these nine provinces of the GAP region, the majority of whom are farmers, used to grow mostly rainfed crops - wheat, lentils, barley, pistachio, sesame. Only 2% of all crops grown were vegetables. But a kind of revolution has been taking place since 1995, when irrigation was introduced as a result of the Ataturk Dam. "Actually, important agricultural changes began with the start of this irrigation project," Acikgoz says, citing as additional new crops corn and soybeans which "B.I." - before irrigation - were unknown and which are crops he would like to promote today. So far, 160,000 hectares of land have been irrigated. It is hoped that at the end of this phase of the project, in the year 2005, 13 GAP subprojects, involving 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric power plants on the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers (some already built and others under construction), will provide 1.7 million hectares with irrigation. Some 60% of the water comes from the Ataturk Dam, 40% from small dams. "Where sheep grazed before, vegetables are growing today," declares the agricultural engineer with obvious satisfaction. He reveals that plans are afoot, too, to bring two more enterprises tt the region: fish breeding and cattle, the latter geared to meat production.

Mehmet Acikgoz adds that as a result of irrigation more cotton is now being grown. Cotton, which needs a great deal of water, is actually given priority in the irrigated area - so much so that it accounts for 90% of the area's agricultural production. He stresses that it is good quality cotton - its fiber content is 42%. The idea, he says, is to grow it for export, after it has been processed in local ginneries. Forecasts predict that by early 2000 cotton production in the region is expected to exceed the total present production of the entire country. In some of the other areas in need of water, Acikgoz would like to introduce and apply Israeli irrigation techniques and equipment - examples of which he witnessed during his recent three-week course.

So far, the agricultural engineer asserts, in the few years of the project's existence, the income per person in the region has increased by 3%. On his return home, Acikgoz says he will continue his work as coordinator of the GAP economic and social planning unit. In addition to the agricultural projects, this unit concentrates on establishing and monitoring the multi-purpose community centers called CATOMs. "Some of the major problems in the GAP region - and this is especially true of women - are low literacy (research shows that only 30% of the region's women know how to read and write), a high fertility rate and lack of access to educational and health services."

"The CATOMs are centers established to help women aged 15-50 by motivating them to seek solutions for their urgent problems and paving the way to raise the status of women with measures to mitigate their domestic work burden and raise the level of information and awareness. In these centers we offer courses in literacy, nutrition, health services and training, and skill-building for women in income-generating spheres."

"Specifically, CATOM activities include extending the period of school attendance, developing productive skills and providing opportunities for work in income-generating fields. Currently, in the province of Sanliurfa there are 276 literacy trainees in seven CATOM centers, 410 women and young girls attend health training courses, 409 go to home economics courses, 143 visit maternal training courses which include child care and nutrition, 264 are learning to cut, sew and embroider and 272 are being trained by masters how to cut semiprecious stones and weave rugs, at the same time earning money in return for their work."

Zeynap Ergil works in the publications department of GAP and, in addition, helps coordinate the various GAP departments, such as administration, the social projects department and the agricultural development department. She receives information from these departments and puts out press bulletins and video cassettes in Turkish, French, Spanish, English and Arabic. This informational material is designed both for the local population as well as for international institutions which can help promote the GAP project. Thus, explains Ergil, the printed and visual material goes to visitors, investors and entrepreneurs, various chambers of commerce, NGOs, universities, research institutions and the media.

"You know," she says, "GAP is an umbrella under which are social, economic, environmental and agricultural sustainable activities - it's an integrated package of human-centered projects. The United Nations Development Program, UNICEF, the European Union and the World Bank are international agencies directly involved in our program. The significance of GAP," she adds, "is not limited to its size and the projected economic benefits. Equally important is the place it takes within the context of national and international relations and the inherent political stability of the region. An important goal is to remove the disparities between the GAP region and more developed areas of Turkey, so as to contribute to equitable development. The project is creating opportunities for local people to exercise their choices and realize their full economic potential."

Melek Cakmak is an agricultural economist whose special focus of interest is women living in the rural areas. "Women's access to education is limited," she says, explaining that girls often do not go to school because the families cannot afford to do without extra help on the farm; thus, only the boys get to go to school. Another special problem here is the high fertility rate - the average number of children in these provinces is six, with 10 children in a family not unusual. And while, according to Turkish law, a man can have only one wife, polygamy here is common. "If a wife does not give birth to sons, or if the man wishes to take a younger wife, another woman is added. The older woman stays on, whether she likes it or not - she simply has no alternatives. She has no earning power, and if she goes back to her family, the husband will keep the children. So - we have established the CATOM whose target is women and girls."

"The main idea is to raise the consciousness of women, empower them, widen their horizons, create wider interaction. Twice a week a doctor and a nurse are on hand examining and treating the women. Currently we have 12 CATOMS in five provinces, with 2,000 women benefitting from them. They are located in villages and in shanty towns of cities. Some of these needy women can't even afford to pay for transport, so we try to be where they are. Our aim for the end of 1998 is 18 such centers for 10,000 women - in effect, one woman from each household."

There is another problem, says Melek Cakmak. That problem is the husbands in the GAP regions who are reluctant to let their wives leave the house to go to the CATOM centers. They are afraid of what ideas and what people their wives might encounter. So we are now fighting on two fronts: not only on the feminine front - we are engaged, as well, in raising the consciousness of these men - we are, if you will, in the process of an outreach program of confidence building. Our field workers go and talk to the men in their shops, in coffee houses, convincing them that the entire family will benefit from his wife's attendance in the CATOM centers. I think we are slowly succeeding," Cakmak concludes with a smile. "And we have certainly learned a great deal during our time in Israel about what women can do and are doing."

Indeed, the Turkish experts returned to their homes after a three-week interlude, having expanded their perspectives and raised their own consciousness. And MASHAV and CINADCO are continuing to work to strengthen ties of development between Turkey and Israel, with professional visits to the GAP region, planning on-the-spot courses to be held there and additional courses in Israel for GAP managers and technicians in 1998-9.