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Climate Resilient Agriculture Network – Türkiye

The Climate Resilient Agriculture Network (CRAN) brings together non-governmental organizations, farmers' unions, public institutions and organizations, the private sector, academia, and working groups to work on sharing, implementing, and disseminating adaptation methods and experiences.
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CRAN members in an exchange programme about climate-resilient agriculture, December 2021.
What is the Climate Resilient Agriculture Network and Platform?

Climate Resilient Agriculture Network

Türkiye is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts, with risks to agricultural production, water supply, natural resources, ecosystems, public health, and consequent damage to livelihoods. Agriculture is one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate and studies reveal that temperature and precipitation patterns and water scarcity will affect agricultural productivity.

The agriculture sector needs the capacity and tools to implement resilient agriculture practices to increase productivity, maintain ecosystems, and adaptation to climate change. Sustainable use and management of natural resources and conservation of ecosystem services are more important than ever to adapt to climate change and strengthen the resilience of the natural systems on which agriculture depends. Close collaboration among stakeholders is required to experience and disseminate best adaptation practices and knowledge. However, there are currently limited instruments and resources engaging various stakeholders for collaborative action for climate change adaptation in Turkey. For this reason, the Climate Resilient Agriculture Network (CRAN, see video above) aims to increase knowledge and skill capacity and develop cooperation by providing inter-institutional communication.

CRAN started as an NGO network and incrementally grew by including other stakeholders such as governmental authorities, academia, and the private sector. The network is composed of more than 160 stakeholders and collects and communicates information and experience on climate change adaptation on the ClimateAgriculture Platform. The Platform offers an accessible, inclusive, participatory, transparent and accountable knowledge hub on climate-resilient agriculture to the stakeholders, which is available through the website (www.iklimtarim.org).

The Climate Resilient Agriculture Network is funded by the EU Delegation to Türkiye within the framework of Support for Civil Society Networks and Platforms in Türkiye Funding Programme. Nature Conservation Centre, the Agriculture and Food Ethics Association and Konya Leader Farmers Association are partners in the development of the network.

About the project

The project combines a social network and a digital platform to improve communication and dissemination of knowledge on climate-resilient agriculture strategies, policies and practices and provide a common ground for the collaborative working of different stakeholders including NGOs, farmers’ associations, public institutions, universities, research institutions, and the private sector. The Network communicates through a mailing list and shares knowledge and experience on the ClimateAgriculture platform. The Platform includes local climate change news, instructional videos (see documentary below), useful documents on climate change and agriculture, a calendar of events, and a map. The map includes several agricultural disaster events registered all over the country.

Climate and Agriculture Documentary (38 minutes). Credit: CRAN

The platform also benefits from citizen science through a smartphone app (İklimTarım in Apple Store or Google Play) that allows the collection of real-time climate-related crop loss data, which feeds the vulnerability mapping tool on the platform. The vulnerability map is an evidence-based decision-making support tool to optimize the limited resources for adaptation. The network and the platform will help farmers and other stakeholders to learn from others’ experiences, share their success stories and build collaborations to improve their capacities.

The project also supported pilot projects through a gender-sensitive funding program created for climate-resilient agriculture implementations. This program was launched for the three pilot provinces (Konya, Şanlıurfa, and Antalya provinces in Türkiye). In these three pilot provinces, practices such as windbreak, no-tillage systems, food forests, rainwater harvesting, digital farming techniques, and raised (vegetable) beds were implemented, and farmer trainings were carried out.

Target beneficiaries and target outcomes

The purpose of the Climate Resilient Agriculture Network project is to enhance informed decision-making for climate-resilient agriculture from the national level to the farm level through a well-connected network and platform. The network and the platform will help farmers and other stakeholders, including NGOs, farmers’ associations, public institutions, universities, research institutions, and the private sector, to learn from others’ experiences and contribute to the strengthening of knowledge-based decision-making on climate-resilient agriculture. The target outcomes are:

  • Well-connected and collaborative working Climate Resilient Agriculture network working in the field of climate change and agriculture
  • Enhanced dialogue and collaboration between the CSOs, government authorities, academy and the private sector for climate-resilient agriculture
  • Improved knowledge and awareness of climate-resilient agriculture strategies, actions, and practices in Türkiye through the experience of EU member states

Future plans

The Climate Resilient Agriculture Network will establish a climate-resilient agriculture funding program, which aims to support the implementation of nature-based solutions, new technologies, or policies that have been tested and proven effective to contribute to building climate resilience in the agricultural sector.

The funding of the program will be provided by government agencies, international organizations, foundations, and the private sector. The program will focus on operationalizing implementations in the most vulnerable areas determined by evidence-based methods in the CRAN project and sharing experiences on the ClimateAgriculture Platform. Partnerships will be built with key stakeholders, such as farmers, researchers, and community organizations, to identify specific needs, and the program’s progress and impact will be continuously monitored. This will allow the adaptation of the program to changing needs and opportunities, and make sure it is aligned with the latest research, policies, and practices.

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