THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
FAO and the Antalya Agriculture Council place the 2021 International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV) under the spotlight…
The event emphasized the importance of the fruit and vegetable sector for human health and rural economies…
14 December 2021, Virtual event – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Antalya Agriculture Council organized a joint event on 9 December 2021 to mark the end of the 2021 International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV).
The event aimed to evaluate IYFV activities undertaken throughout this year and underlined the importance of the fruit and vegetable sector for human health and rural economies. Panellists also highlighted the need for a holistic and comprehensive approach to achieve greater sustainability and better production and consumption behaviours. In addition, they emphasized the need for stronger linkages among the various actors and stakeholders across the system, in order to integrate sustainable practices into production, harvesting, postharvest handling, processing and consumption.
During the event, FAO experts and Antalya Agriculture Council executives shared their experiences and feedback on IYFV activities. Opening the session, Ayşegül Selışık, FAO Turkey Assistant Representative, emphasized the need to ensure that fruits and vegetables are affordable for all. Ali Çandır, President of Antalya Agriculture Council and the Antalya Commodity Exchange, and Gökhan Karaca, Antalya Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry, then shared their views on improving fruit and vegetable production and trade in Turkey and especially in Antalya.
FAO experts from headquarters in Rome and regional offices in Ankara and Budapest reflected on the organization’s work on fruits and vegetables and recent IYFV celebration activities. Fen Beed offered reflections and examples of work at the global level, Pedro Marcelo Arias supplied information on activities in Europe, and Fazil Dusunceli and Kivanc Ozcan provided perspectives from Central Asia and Turkey. In addition, Philippe Binard, General Delegate of the European Fresh Produce Association (Freshfel Europe), gave a summary of the fruits and vegetables industry and IFYF activities in Europe, and shared his future-facing vision for greater momentum in the fruit and vegetable sector in the context of the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy. Ümit Mirza Çavuşoğlu, the President of West Mediterranean Exporters Association, also shared perspectives from Turkey on fruit and vegetable production and trade.
At the close of the event, Gonca Erkut, General Secretary of the Antalya Agricultural Council, summarized the discussions. The participants offered their thanks and emphasized the need for similar events in the future.
