According to the Chamber of Agricultural Engineers , a total of 4,515,000 people are employed in agriculture, of which 40% or 1,782,000 are women. However, despite the fact that in rural areas, women are indeed the link between the field and the food on the table, their wage is less than that of men.
Nevertheless, in today’s ‘new world order’, women increasingly play a key role in the transformation of agriculture, rural development and food security. A strong woman means a strong society.
In 2021, Tekfen Foundation launched the “Women Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Loan” project in cooperation with TISVA (Türkiye İsrafı Önleme Vakfı – Turkish Foundation for Waste Reduction) and Toros Tarım (a Tekfen Holding group company of) to support women farmers in order to empower women in agriculture.
The primary aim is to support women who intend to farm but do not have the necessary financial resource (capital) to start their own small agricultural enterprises. In addition to providing financial support, the project also provides basic agricultural training, training in Occupational Health and Safety and on-site consultancy on their fields with the expert contribution of Toros Tarım’s agricultural engineers. TISVA is leading the entire operation of allocating and collecting the loan, while also contributing with a %25 percent additional fund to Tekfen’s financing.
As of April 2021, 80 women in the Aegean provinces of Manisa, Aydın, Nazilli, İzmir, Denizli and Soma received TRY 625.000 in loans as the first beneficiaries of the newly launched programme.
The project provides very low-cost loans to women farmers to support income-generating activities in agriculture so that women can farm on their own and stand on their own feet.
Additionally, other objectives of the project are;
- Identifying demands and needs,
- To see how much of the short-term changes in the Theory of Change have been realised and whether there are indications that medium and long-term changes will occur,
- Encouraging other companies to contribute to the funding, and thus increase the number of women farmers who benefit from the loans and expand geographically as well.
About the report
This report includes the social impact measurement of the Microfinance for Women Farmers Project covering one year period, 2021, of its operations. The SROI (Social Return on Investment) analysis is used as a framework based on eight principles of the SROI that are reflected in the whole report. In accordance with these principles, all information about the Project’s social impact measurement is stated with transparency.
Purpose and Target Audience
This analysis targets two main audience groups; internal stakeholder (management level) and external stakeholders (local authority, agricultural sector, collaborating institutions and other companies that are looking for an opportunity to contribute to the agricultural sector).
The purpose of the analysis is basically to understand the changes that stakeholders have experienced as a result of the Project’s activities. Understanding changes with all aspects, positive, negative, intended and unintended, will inform decisions in much better way to optimize the value of the Project.
The purpose of the analysis regarding external stakeholders is to communicate outcomes of the Project and to collaborate in order to decrease negative outcomes and increase positive ones where possible.
Scope & Boundaries
This is the very first SROI Analysis of the Project spanning one year (March 2021 – April 2022) – of its activities, outcomes and impact. As such, the focus of the analysis is on the main stakeholders (women farmers) who benefited from microcredit. In order to manage impact and optimise value, the first step is to understand what changes have occurred for those stakeholders. Value creation for collaborating institutions means better future collaborations to optimise impact.
As mentioned, this report covers analysis of the first year of the Project. The first year was the pilot scheme. This analysis will provide the basis of the investors’ decision with regards to the future of the Project. Therefore, this first social impact analysis’ scope is limited with the women farmers and the collaborating institutions.
Type of SROI Analysis: Evaluative
