The meeting on the structuring activities of the Common Agricultural Policy Network (NRN), which will cover 81 provinces, was held on 2-6 October 2023 in İzmir.
Experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the representatives of all institutions and organizations related to the agricultural policies of the provinces and regions, as well as stakeholders, came together at the meetings in which the functioning, goals and objectives of the CAP network were shared, and initiated the activities to form the network.
On the first day, the Coordinator of the Managing Authority, Dr. Şenay SEVENGÖR and Project Specialist Mahmut BİÇER visited the Director of İzmir Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry Mr. Mustafa ŞAHİN, Deputy Director of İzmir Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry Mr. Fatih KILIÇ, Head of Section for Rural Development and Organization Mr. Ali BAL, and discussed the activities. After the meeting held at the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, Ms. SEVENGÖR, Mr. BİÇER, Mr. KILIÇ paid a visit to the Deputy Governor of İzmir, Mr. Hulusi DOĞAN, and provided information about the work to be conducted in the province.
On the same day, an informative visit was paid to the İzmir Development Agency, which will take part in the activities aimed at establishing the CAP Network Regional Coordination Office in İzmir province. On the third day, a core group meeting was held, chaired by İzmir Governorship. İzmir Deputy Governor Mr. Hulusi DOĞAN, Mr. ŞAHİN, Mr. KILIÇ, Provincial Civil Society Relations Director Mr. Turgay ESEN, Aegean Agricultural Research Institute Director Ertuğrul ARDA, International Agricultural Research Institute Director Mr. Tuncay TOPDEMİR, Bornova Agricultural Research Institute Director Mr. Tevfik TURANLI, Olive Production Research Institute Director Mr. Ünal KAYA, İzmir Development Agency Experts Ms. Sinem ÖZDEMIR DURMUŞLAR and Tuba TOL attended the meeting. During the meeting, assignments for the CAP Network formation in İzmir and the steps to be taken in the upcoming process were discussed together with the attendees of the core group meeting.
The focus group meeting held on the same day was organized in the İzmir Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry meeting room with the participation of focus group meeting representatives. Representatives of the agricultural cooperative, women's cooperative, association, chamber of agriculture, farmers, agricultural advisors and academics, who take part in good practices in İzmir attended the stakeholder meeting held on the fourth day of the programme and exchanged opinions.
Information was provided by Ms. SEVENGÖR and Mr. BİÇER within the scope of the project carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Ege University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Associate Professor Bintuğ ÖZTÜRK, who stands out with studies on topics such as the creation of a database by registering medicinal and aromatic plants with private sector, civil society and public partnerships, and the production of high value-added products, was visited. After the meetings that lasted for a week, a general assessment meeting was held about the work conducted in the province and the activities were completed.