World Bank’s $819 million financing to enhance crop production

ISTANBUL

The World Bank has announced that its board approved $819 million in financing to increase food production and enhance water efficiency for more than 550,000 people in Türkiye.

The Türkiye Second Irrigation Modernization and Water Efficiency Project, approved on June 2, will facilitate the modernization of irrigation systems across 72,000 hectares, benefiting at least 50,000 farms in areas experiencing worsening climate conditions, including extreme heat, drought and flooding, the bank said in a statement.

With the agricultural sector consuming 85 percent of the country’s available water resources, this project gives continuation to an earlier program aimed at modernizing irrigation infrastructure and water delivery systems to conserve water, it added.

The project will serve farmers in and around the central Anatolia region and Antalya province, targeting a population of over 550,000 people.

Among the impacts it will achieve are reduced water loss in conveyance and on-and-off farm irrigation, increased crop production and availability of food and build resilience against extreme weather events, according to the statement.

“Türkiye is the world’s ninth largest producer of agricultural products, with the agricultural sector accounting for 6 percent of the national economy and 20 percent of employment,” World Bank Country Director for Türkiye Humberto Lopez said.

“Thus, the need to take a comprehensive approach to water efficiency is not only a climate change concern but also an economic concern in order to protect the sector and expand agricultural jobs,” he added.