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Agriculture

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Follow Up Projects

Agriculture

• Southeast Anatolia Water Resource Management Project
• Water User Association's Chairmen Training Program
• Leader Farmer Training Program
• Farm Extension Workers Training Program

Agriculture is the most significant source of income in southeastern Turkey. Therefore, improving farming and irrigation techniques plays a crucial role in developing the region.

HasNa’s agricultural programs aim to reach diverse groups of farmers in the region through technical training and conflict resolution so that they may increase productivity on their farms and utilize conflict resolution training in their communities. By reaching out to diverse groups in the agriculture sector, HasNa is strengthening southeast Turkey’s human capital and promoting self-sustainability.

HasNa’s first program in Turkey provided water engineers with conflict resolution training as well as technical training. The participants were so pleased with the skills they had learned and the changes that could be made that they requested that HasNa next train the chairmen of their water associations in 2005. Irrigation is only one component of the agricultural system and so, in 2006,

HasNa decided to build on its success in training the water engineers and next provided training for farm extension workers. Farm extension workers play an integral role in educating farmers on new cultivation practices. In 2007, HasNa chose to take farmer education one step further by reaching out to farmers in southeast Turkey that were identified as leaders in their communities by GAP.

Following the training, HasNa hopes that these farmers will use their leadership positions to convince other farmers in their communities to experiment with new techniques and crops and also use the conflict resolution training to promote healthy relationships in their communities.

Southeast Anatolia Water Resource Management Project

Irrigation engineers during the Water Resource Management training in Washington, DC in 2003

In 2000, HasNa began a long-term project aimed at improving the effectiveness of Water User Associations (WUA) in the Sanliurfa region of Turkey. The Southeast Anatolia Water Resource Management Project brings diverse groups of irrigation and agricultural engineers to the United States for training in water management, sustainable agriculture, farmer outreach, managerial skills and conflict resolution skills.

HasNa focuses on training young adults because they have the greatest potential to become influential members in their communities. The program was expanded in 2002 to focus on the training of water engineers in conflict resolution and management skills.

Feedback from participants has consistently been high, describing the HasNa training as a “life transforming” experience. In response to such feedback, our program in 2005 hosted all nine chairmen of the WUAs in the Sanliurfa province.

Topics addressed during training include:

• Providing water for irrigation to local farmers in a timely and fair manner
• Eliminating wasteful irrigation techniques that degrade the fertility of the soil
• Understanding proper irrigation and cultivation techniques
• Working effectively in teams
• Improving cooperation and communication among WUAs and farmers

Water User Association’s Chairmen Training Program

After five years of hearing stories from the engineers about their training, and witnessing their successes when given the authority to use techniques learned during HasNa training, the chairmen of the Water Users’ Associations decided to see it for themselves. In 2005, for the first time HasNa hosted nine chairmen from the WUAs in southeastern Turkey, who head the water associations and are also landowners and community leaders.

The group spent one week in Washington, DC, studying conflict resolution and leadership skills and met with a representative of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to learn the history of water distribution in the United States. They then traveled to Los Baños, California where they spent one week with representatives of the San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority and studied irrigation technology.

Not only did the chairmen have the opportunity to acquire knowledge on new sustainable agriculture techniques and broaden their horizons by seeing how the water management in California works, but they also learned conflict resolution techniques that will help them in their professional and personal lives.

Leader Farmer Training Program

Ismail Ugur Gumus (left), agricultural engineer, and Sirri Ozturk, vet, during the agricultural training program at the University of Maryland

In 2007, HasNa hosted its first Leader Farmer Training Program. This program brought seven farmers and three GAP (Southeastern Anatolian Project) officials, one of whom is also a farmer, from southeastern Turkey to the United States to learn new farming, irrigation and marketing techniques.

During their two week visit, the participants received conflict resolution and communication skills training from the Center for Dispute Settlement and learned new farming methods through visits to farm enterprises in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. These farm extension visits sought to encourage farmers to experiment with new crops and to teach the participants new farming methods to improve their yield, plant quality, and productivity.

The professional skills training, which was led by Dale Johnson of the University of Maryland’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, has already shown a tremendous impact on the participants’ approach to farming.

There has also been a marked impact on the farmers’ local communities, as each farmer has taken what they learned during the HasNa training session and shared it with his neighbors.

Farm Extension Workers Training Program

Farm extension workers visiting a farm in the U.S.

Recognizing the need to take a more comprehensive approach to agricultural education, HasNa conducted its first Farm Extension Workers Training Program in 2006. Farm extension workers are integral members of agricultural development in southeastern Turkey.

The eleven participants were agricultural engineers who had previously been contracted by the Turkish government to identify problems that local farmers face in the region and advise them on how to solve such problems.

The objective of the training was to improve the farm extension workers’ professional capabilities and provide them with conflict resolution skills that would assist them in their professional and personal lives. The technical training was led by Dale Johnson, a farm extension specialist from the University of Maryland’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Topics included extension educational programming and evaluation techniques, implementing new teaching techniques, and how to plan farmer field days. Because the farm extension workers’ success centers on their ability to work effectively with and educate farmers, it is essential that they be able to resolve conflicts which will inevitably arise.

The conflict resolution training focused on improving communication skills which will help build trust between farmers and the extension workers.

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