Special event from İş Bankası for 'International Day of Rural Women'

The United Nations celebrates the International Day of Rural Women every year on October 15 to make the role of women in agricultural production visible and to emphasize the importance of access to equal opportunities for everyone in rural areas.

İş Bankası also joined the celebrations this year with the "The Power of Women: Agriculture of the Future" event, which brought together female farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs from different regions of Turkey. Türkiye İş Bankası General Manager Hakan Aran also attended the event.

"WE STAND WITH WOMEN ON THE PATH TO EQUALITY AND MODERNITY"

Speaking at the opening of the event, İş Bankası General Manager Hakan Aran said, "We attach great importance to agriculture, entrepreneurship, science, technology, gender equality, the principles of women's empowerment, the environment, and people. Since its first day, our bank has been working to contribute to the development of the country's economy and the society it is a part of, inspired by the vision and values set forth by its founder, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk."

Hakan Aran also shared Atatürk's words from a speech he gave in Kastamonu in 1925 regarding women: "Human society is composed of two genders, called men and women. Is it possible that we can advance one part of this mass while neglecting the other, and still have the integrity of the mass advance? Is it possible that while half of a body remains chained to the ground, the other half can rise to the skies? Oh, heroic Turkish woman, you deserve not to crawl on the ground, but to rise to the skies on shoulders." He concluded his speech as follows:

"Since the founding of the Republic, women have played important roles both in the struggle for equality and in our country's journey of modernity and development. I would like to emphasize that, just as we have until today, we will continue to stand by you on this journey and fight together to overcome challenges from now on."

"IF WE ARE TO WRITE A STORY IN AGRICULTURE..."

İş Bankası Deputy General Manager İzlem Erdem stated, "While agriculture's share of the national income is 5.8 percent, its share of the working population is at the 16 percent level, which is important regarding the sustainability of income in agriculture. The two main issues that stand out here are the use of technology to increase productivity and women, the hidden power of agriculture."

"WOMEN ARE OPEN TO TECHNOLOGY AND NEW METHODS"

Drawing attention to the importance of increasing women's solidarity and cooperation, Erdem said, "Recently, women's cooperatives have made significant contributions in this sense. Cooperatives both involve women in economic life through solidarity and increase the economic power of the region. Women are open to technology and learning and adopting new methods and techniques in every field. In this respect, female farmers also play an important role in realizing the technological transformation in agriculture."

THE PLACE OF WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE

In the statement made, it was noted, "Globally, 1 out of every 4 working women works in the field of agriculture. In developing or underdeveloped countries, this share rises to 40-50 percent. In the European Union and OECD countries, this rate is only around 3 percent. In our country, only 1 out of every 3 women in the population aged 15 and over, which is considered the working-age population, is in working life. While approximately 4.9 million people worked in the agricultural sector across Turkey in 2022, more than 2 million of them were women. According to 2022 TUIK data, 21 percent of working women make a living from agriculture, while this rate is 14 percent for men. Agriculture leads the race among all sectors with an 80 percent informal employment rate. The informality rate of female workers reaches 90 percent. Women make up one-third of total employment and 42 percent of agricultural employment in Turkey. The fact that female farmers registered in the Farmer Registration System have only a 13.3 percent share shows that even though women provide the actual labor, the business or field registration is in the name of men. While women make up 77 percent of the 2 million unpaid family workers, the number of female employers in agriculture is only 2 thousand."

INSPIRING STORIES OF FEMALE FARMERS

Following the opening speeches, female farmers who have pioneered agricultural practices shared their inspiring stories in two separate panels.

Among the speakers of the first session were Demet Öztürk, who transforms hazelnuts grown with good agricultural practices and sustainable farming methods in Giresun into added value in her workshop; Eda Halıcı, who grows blueberries in İznik; Nilgül Terzi Sürer, who continues her work on ancestral wheat and chickpea seeds while producing olives and olive oil in Mudanya; Münevver Kepenek, who practices organic farming and animal husbandry in Eskişehir and works for the preservation of local seeds; and Tülay Genç, who practices sericulture in Hatay.

The speakers of the second session were Aslı Günal, who carried out the first soilless strawberry greenhouse installation in Söke; Aşkı Çağatay, who produced the first dragon fruit in Finike; Cennet Polat, who produces button mushrooms in Kahramanmaraş and serves as the president of the Mutlu Besni Women's Cooperative; and Nida Elif Selci, who has been involved in animal husbandry at the age of 20 and shares her agricultural and livestock activities on social media as a content creator.

News Source: İHA