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Growing a sustainable future - Turkey

Hundreds of refugees from war-torn Syria receive agricultural training organized by a partnership of FAO, UNHCR and the Turkish government, helping them find the em-ployment needed to build futures in Turkey.

Country Türkiye

Duration 8m35s

Edit Version Clean

Video Type B Roll Video

Date 09/20/2018 2:33 PM

File size 1,001.64 MB

Unique ID UF2T3X

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist SHOTLIST:

Gaziantep CIty, Turkey - July 14, 2018

1. View of city after sunset

Mardin Province, Turkey - July 12, 2018

2. Various of views across desert towards Syrian border

Sanliurfa Province, Turkey - July 13, 2018

3. Various of FAO export speaking to group of Syrian refugee trainees

4. Syrian refugee women listening

5. Various of training session underway

Sanliurfa Province, Turkey - July 14, 2018

6. Various of Sana Abo-Hamod, Syrian refugee, weeding with colleagues

7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sana Abo-Hamod, Syrian refugee, saying:

“In Syria, I was a university student, and I also taught. With God’s help, I took care of myself. With the situation there, we had to leave like everyone else, fearing for our lives.”

8. Abo-Hamod walking in greenhouse, picking weeds

9. Abo-Hamod taking off gloves

10. Various of Abo-Hamod seated speaking to colleagues

11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sana Abo-Hamod, Syrian refugee, saying:

“In the project, we’ve learned a lot about agriculture. In Syria we also grow crops, but not with the modern machines and methods they use here. We’ve used these cours-es to build on our experience. Now we work in farming here and are self-sufficient.”

Mardin Province, Turkey - July 12, 2018

12. Gaziya Rzaq, Syrian refugee, and other workers walking in mushroom farm

13. Various of Rzaq opening bag containing mushroom culture

14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gaziya Rzaq, Syrian refugee, saying:

“I learned many new things from the course. For example, I never knew that mush-rooms could be planted. I thought they only grew in the wild.”

15. Various of Rzaq and her family weaving

16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gaziya Rzaq, Syrian refugee, saying:

"Certainly it helped me. Before we had to borrow money to cover our monthly ex-penses. But thank God, now we do not need to borrow. Though the work is hard, it has created some income and we are doing better.”

Gaziantep Province, Turkey - July 16, 2018

17. Various of refugee farm workers pruning olive trees

Sanliurfa Province, Turkey - July 13, 2018

18. Various of Syrian refugees seated in classroom during training

Mardin Province, Turkey - July 12, 2018

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Sheikh Ahaduzzaman, FAO Turkey Program Officer, saying:

“The impact of the project is these Syrian people getting an employment opportuni-ty through vocational training, through developing their skills and through networking with the private sector who are the potential employers. So the impact at the end of the project, basically we facilitated employment opportunities. Almost 25 percent of the trained people have a job already and we are still facilitating that more skilled labour force, more skilled Syrian refugees are getting employment in the agricultural sector”

Gaziantep Province, Turkey - July 16, 2018

20. Syrian refugee farm worker pruning vines

21. Grapes on vine

22. More of Syrian refugee farm worker

Sanliurfa Province, Turkey - July 13, 2018

23. Cows feeding

24. Various of Resat Karadeniz, owner of Akcamescit Dairy Farm and Director of San-liurfa Cattle Breeders’ Association, and Syrian refugee farm worker colleagues milking cows

25. Karsdeniz walking with Syrian refugee farm worker colleague

26. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Resat Karadeniz, dairy farmer, saying:

“Altogether six families are employed here, and there are jobs for both our own families and for Syrians. They’re now almost like Turkish citizens, and we treat them like brothers.”

27. Cows feeding

28. Karadeniz walking with Syrian refugee farm worker colleagues

29. Various of Syrian refugee farm worker milking cow

30. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Resat Karadeniz, dairy farmer, saying:

“They started working here as trainees. They did their internships and then we re-cruited them. We’ve never had any problems with them adapting.”

31. Syrian refugee farm worker closing gate of cattle pen

32. Cattle walking

Mardin Province, Turkey - July 12, 2018

33. Various of Syrian refugee and Turkish children making jam

34. Various of Syrian refugee and Turkish children outside learning about vegetables

Ankara City, Turkey - July 17, 2018

35. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Marie Garelli, UNHCR Deputy Representative to Turkey, saying:

“With the positive outcomes of the project in 2017, FAO and UNHCR have decided to implement a second phase of the project. Five hundred additional persons will benefit from theoretic and on-the-job training, as well as being in contact with potential employers through job fairs. Hopefully this will continue to increase the access to livelihood and provide them with some self-reliance opportunities”

Gaziantep Province, Turkey - July 16, 2018

36. Various of FAO expert showing Syrian refugee farm workers how to prune olive trees

37. Syrian refugee farm worker pulling olive leaves

38. Olive leaves in front of sun

39. Pomegranates

40. Olives on tree

41. Trunks of olive trees

42. Olive trees in landscape

Mardin Province, Turkey - July 12, 2018

43. Syrian refugee trainees seated in room

44. Young refugee boy looking on

45. Refugee mother and baby girl smiling

Gaziantep City, Turkey - July 14, 2018

46. Various views of Gaziantep city in evening light

(Mute / slow motion) Various locations, Turkey - Various dates, July 2018

47. Portrait of Syrian refugee farm worker smiling

48. Portrait of Gaziya Rzaq, Syrian refugee

49. Portrait of Sana Abo-Hamod, Syrian refugee

50. Portrait of Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee

Ends

Script STORY:

Turkey hosts over 3.5 million refugees from war-torn Syria, most in the border region be-tween the two countries.

The influx of refugees has put strain on Turkey’s economy and infrastructure, and pos-es the challenge of generating employment that will allow new arrivals to build futures there.

To address this, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Turkish government to provide agricultural training to over 900 Syrians, as well as members of their Turkish host communities.

Of the beneficiaries, 70 percent are Syrian, and 30 are Turkish, creating a setting where Syrians and Turks train side by side.

Among them, a third are women, and the majority are young.

Twenty-seven-year-old Sana Abo-Hamod fled Syria with her aging parents. Now in Sanliurfa, one of the five provinces in southeast Turkey covered by the program, she supports the whole family herself.

“In Syria, I was a university student, and I also taught. With God’s help, I took care of myself. With the situation there, we had to leave like everyone else, fearing for our lives,” she said.

Having completed the training, she works with other refugees on various farms, includ-ing in a greenhouse growing flowers.

“In the project, we’ve learned a lot about agriculture. In Syria we also grow crops, but not with the modern machines and methods they use here. We’ve used these courses to build on our experience. Now we work in farming here and are self-sufficient,” she said.

Refugees receive theoretical and vocational training to grow crops such as olives, ap-ples, grapes, pomegranates, cotton and even mushrooms.

Gaziya Rzaq, who now lives in the ancient Turkish city of Mardin, near the Syrian bor-der, was surprised by what she learned.

“I learned many new things from the course. For example, I never knew that mush-rooms could be planted. I thought they only grew in the wild,” she said.

Like other trainees, Gaziya received a stipend while taking the course, which helped to pay for the necessities for her family of five. They also supplement their family income by handwaving products for sale.

"Certainly it helped me. Before we had to borrow money to cover our monthly expens-es. But thank God, now we do not need to borrow. Though the work is hard, it has created some income and we are doing better,” she said.

Turkey lacks a quarter of the agricultural labour force it needs, a gap which refugees help to fill.

The availability of skilled workers is good news for farms in the area, who sometimes struggle to find experienced help during harvest and other key moments in the annual cycle.

“The impact of the project is these Syrian people getting an employment opportunity through vocational training, through developing their skills and through networking with the private sector who are the potential employers. So the impact at the end of the project, basically we facilitated employment opportunities. Almost 25 percent of the trained people have a job already and we are still facilitating that more skilled labour force, more skilled Syrian refugees are getting employment in the agricultural sector,” said Sheikh Ahaduz-zaman, a program officer for FAO Turkey.

Ninety-three percent of Syrian refugees in Turkey live within host communities, and often struggle to integrate.

Working alongside Turkish counterparts helps them bond and improve crucial lan-guage skills they will need to integrate.

Resat Karadeniz, owner of Akcamescit Dairy Farm, is one of many members of Turkish private sector now employing Syrian refugees as well as locals.

“Altogether six families are employed here, and there are jobs for both our own families and for Syrians. They’re now almost like Turkish citizens, and we treat them like brothers,” he said.

“They started working here as trainees. They did their internships and then we recruited them onto the farm. We’ve never had any problems with them adapting,” he added.

Some Syrians who started working on Karadeniz’s farm as FAO program trainees have gone on to start their own dairy business.

FAO and UNHCR also support summer schools where Syrian refugee and Turkish children learn together about food and farming.

Apart from being fun, the scheme frees up their parents to work during the busy harvest season.

“With the positive outcomes of the project in 2017, FAO and UNHCR have decided to implement a second phase of the project. Five hundred additional persons will benefit from theoretic and on-the-job training, as well as being in contact with potential employers through job fairs. Hopefully this will continue to increase the access to livelihood and provide them with some self-reliance opportunities,” said Jean-Marie Garelli, UNHCR’s deputy representative to Turkey.

With hundreds more due to receive training in the second phase, the program can con-tinue to contribute to FAO’s goal of achieving Zero Hunger by 2030.

Ends