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STORY: IFAD / GERMANY AND RURAL WOMEN TÜRKIYE
TRT: 5:09
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT IFAD ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: TURKISH / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 08 OCTOBER 2025, BERLIN, GERMANY / JANUARY 2025, KONYA, TÜRKIYE
08 OCTOBER 2025, BERLIN, GERMANY
1. Various shots, Alvaro Lario in meeting at the Bundestag
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD):
“The partnership between Germany and IFAD strengthens Germany's ability to create decent job opportunities for rural people, especially in the most remote areas of developing economies. IFAD’s investments for rural development ensures a strong return on investment for taxpayers' money. IFAD’s unique business model maximizes the impact of German contributions. For every US$1 that we receive, IFAD will invest along with other investors, governments, private sector, rural communities themselves – in order to leverage up to US$6 where it is needed most.”
JANUARY 2025, KONYA, TÜRKIYE
3. Med shot, Nazlı in her kitchen at home
4. Close up, biscuits
5. Med shot, Nazlı pouring tea in her kitchen
6. Wide shot, Nazlı sitting with her family for tea
7. Med shot, Nazlı sitting with her family for tea
8. Exterior shot, Nazli coming down the stairs of her house with friend
9. Close up, dough kneading machine with IFAD sticker
10. Close up, dough kneading machine in action
11. SOUNDITE (Turkish) Nazlı:
“I was already making börek, bazlama, erişte, and tatar at home. That’s how I was making a living. After hearing about the dough kneading machine, I applied to the district agriculture office. The grant-supported dough kneading machine was deemed suitable for me and given to me. After that, in kneading dough, I saved time, maintained hygiene, and increased my production.”
12. Wide shot, metal door of production warehouse opening – beginning
13. Wide shot, Nazlı entering the warehouse – end of shot
14. Med shot, Nazlı putting on her apron
15. Wide shot, women working at the cooperative
16. Close up, baklava sheets being boiled and extracted
17. Med shot, Nazli checks the cooking of the baklava
18. Close up, baklava on rotating gas stove
19. Med shot, rotating gas stove, different angle
20. Close up, pastry on stove, shot from above
21. Wide shot, Nazlı and another woman carrying the pastry and putting it on a large table
22. Med shot, Nazlı inspects the baklavas
23. Various shots, Nazlı puts the baklava on shelves
24. Med shot, Nazlı and another worker spreading the dough
25. Close up, dough being rolled out
26. Side shot,Nazlı putting cooked bread on shelves
27. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Nazlı:
“And after a year, with support from our district governor’s office, we decided to establish a cooperative. We started this with seven founding women members. Most people around us said "You can't do it" or "It won’t work". There were many who discouraged us. Honestly, at first, I wanted to give up. It felt too difficult. But as we progressed, I realized it was actually easy.”
28. Med shot, Nazlı on the phone with woman standing by
29. Med shot, Nazlı looking at her phone
30. Close up, messages on her phone
31. Sequence of client receiving order of baklava large plate
32. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Nazlı:
“Once we expand and generate more sales, our earnings will increase. Not just mine, but everyone's income will grow. Now, giving up is not an option anymore. I will continue to the end, as far as this journey takes me. Because when a woman wants something, she can achieve anything.”
33. Long shot, Nazlı and friend passing by in the street by her home on a motorized tricycle
On 8 October 2025, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Alvaro Lario, met in Berlin with representatives of the German Bundestag (Budget and Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development Committees), as well as representatives of the German Development Bank KfW and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
They discussed the strong partnership between IFAD -a UN agency with specialized knowledge of small and medium-scale food producers, and a financial institution capable of stretching every dollar invested- and the German Government to invest in rural people and transform the world’s agricultural and food systems. Lario’s visit takes place ahead of the start of the Fund’s replenishment campaign starting in 2026 for the next three years, another battlefield.
SOUNDBITE (English) Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD): “The partnership between Germany and IFAD strengthens Germany's ability to create decent job opportunities for rural people, especially in the most remote areas of developing economies. IFAD’s investments for rural development ensures a strong return on investment for taxpayers' money. IFAD’s unique business model maximizes the impact of German contributions. For every US$1 that we receive, IFAD will invest along with other investors, governments, private sector, rural communities themselves – in order to leverage up to US$6 where it is needed most”.
There are an estimated 3 million people of Turkish descent living in Germany, many of them maintaining personal and/or professional links with Türkiye. IFAD, together with its partners, is investing in projects in the country, aimed at lifting people living in rural parts of Türkiye out of poverty. Women are particularly vulnerable: only 32.1% of them are in employment, less than half of male's employment rate.
In central Anatolia, the Göksu Taşeli Watershed Development Project is diversifying the rural economy and providing new income generating opportunities for rural families. IFAD provided a US$18million loan to the project, while co-financing from the Turkish government and rural participants involved in the project amounted to US$6.6 million. Half of the project’s participants are women - among them is Nazlı.
A STORY OF RESILIENCE AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
Nazlı is at the helm of a women’s cooperative in Yalıhüyük, in the Konya District. Now a successful female entrepreneur, she faced challenges earlier in life and had to rely on state support to feed her family. After divorcing in 2019, she went back to her father’s house with her two daughters. She was selling baklava and other pastries produced in her kitchen, until she heard about the Göksu Taşeli Watershed Development Project.
SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Nazlı: “I was already making börek, bazlama, erişte, and tartar at home. That’s how I was making a living. After hearing about the dough kneading machine, I applied to the district agriculture office. The grant-supported dough kneading machine was deemed suitable for me and given to me. After that, in kneading dough, I saved time, maintained hygiene, and increased my production.”
One year later, Nazlı was encouraged by the project to set up a women cooperative, to boost rural employment and female entrepreneurship.
SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Nazlı: “And after a year, with support from our district governor’s office, we decided to establish a cooperative. We started this with seven founding women members. Most people around us said "You can't do it" or "It won’t work". There were many who discouraged us. Honestly, at first, I wanted to give up. It felt too difficult. But as we progressed, I realized it was actually easy”.
The seven founding members, at first, used their own utensils to produce baklavas, börek and other specialties. But after a year, they applied for a grant and they received machinery and equipment worth 780,000 TL (US$ 18,800), 80% of which was funded by the project and the remaining amount raised by the members themselves.
The Yalıhüyük Cooperative now employs seven women. On average, four of them work in production daily. They sell their products mostly on social media and they have become popular with clients as far as Istanbul, Izmir, or Antalya.
SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Nazlı: “Once we expand, and with more sales, our earnings will increase. Not just mine, but everyone's income will grow. Now, quitting is not an option. I will continue to the end, as far as this journey takes me. Because when a woman wants something, she can achieve anything.”
Launched in 2015, the Göksu Taşeli Watershed Development Project is being implemented in selected villages within nine districts in the Konya and Karaman provinces of Central Anatolia. As of 2025, the project has reached 100,602 individuals. Half of them were women, reaching 128% of the initial target of 38,400 female participants. Women report reduced workloads, more efficient time use and improved household incomes, driven by access to productive assets such as small tractors, household food processing equipment, and greenhouses.
HOW IFAD'S INVESTMENTS ARE CHANGING LIVES
By combining finance, technical know-how, infrastructure, and market access, IFAD’s investments have consistently demonstrated that holistic interventions are most effective in generating jobs and sustainable livelihoods.
Impact assessments conducted on a sample of IFAD investments found average income increases of 34 per cent among project participants, with ‘transformational impacts’ - income increases over 50 per cent - in nearly half of the projects sampled.
The assessments conducted by IFAD indicate both production and market access rising by 35 per cent, showcasing that investments in the first mile are key to connecting smallholder farmers to profitable opportunities.
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