In Ayvalık district of Balıkesir, sectoral training sessions were provided to female farmers. The training was conducted by the Komili Olive and Olive Oil Institute. The sessions covered topics such as modern farming techniques and organic olive cultivation. The training contributes significantly to the olive and olive oil industry.
In Ayvalık district of Balıkesir, sectoral training sessions were provided to the dwindling number of female farmers. The 6th phase of the training sessions organized by the Komili Olive and Olive Oil Institute, established with contributions from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, has been completed for female olive farmers in Ayvalık.
The training, held at the Ayvalık Chamber of Commerce Meeting Hall, covered modern agricultural techniques, climate-friendly good agricultural practices, sustainable production, organic olive cultivation, and other related topics. These sessions are making significant contributions to the olive and olive oil industry.
Pınar Okay, responsible for Marketing and Commercial Marketing at Komili, highlighted that under the firm’s “Live Through Generations” umbrella, they are running several training projects. She said, “Among these, the training aimed at enabling female olive farmers to produce high-quality olive oil is of utmost importance. From a general perspective, Turkey is ranked low globally in terms of efficiency. Olive farming is unfortunately aging in our country, and the new generation of farmers is not emerging. We designed this project to ensure the continuation of this profession by new generations. When it comes to olives, olive oil, and olive trees, one of the pillars is women and farmers. Besides this, we are designing educational projects for students in collaboration with the Ministry of National Education and conducting studies to protect nature and biodiversity with our scientific teams.”
“Our responsibility continues even after the training”
Mehmet Cavlı, Operations Manager at Komili Olive Oil, which has been serving the olive and olive oil sector in Ayvalık for 43 years, emphasized the importance of the training in correcting misconceptions among olive producers, especially female farmers, to improve the quality of olive oil produced.
Cavlı noted, “The 6th phase of our training for female farmers has been completed. We have trained around 160 women farmers in these sessions. The feedback from the trained women farmers has been very positive; they express their satisfaction in learning the correct methods as opposed to misconceptions they previously had. This makes us very happy and motivates us to do more. Even after the training, our responsibility continues. We believe that by providing necessary information through communication groups we have created via mobile phones for the farmers, we are making a significant contribution to the olive and olive oil sector.”
Training will continue in the fall
Project Coordinator Bülent Önder stated that the project was launched with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He mentioned that they included female olive growers in the training sessions as part of sustainable agriculture practices. Önder said, “Before implementing this project, we conducted a background study. The reports revealed that olive growers in our country use traditional methods, which generally do not yield the desired results. This encompasses all processes from selecting olive trees to harvesting, olive oil production, and marketing. Thus, with the help of our valuable instructors, we prepared an intense 5-day training program. The program included detailed training on topics such as olive tree selection, irrigation, fertilization, pest control, olive harvesting, olive oil production, the effects of climate change on olive production, environmental impacts of olive growing, marketing, and branding. This period, we trained 21 female farmers. Last year, this number was 127. Our training will continue in the fall in the Gulf Region.”
A report will be prepared
Bülent Önder added that upon completing the 2024 application of the project, they would conduct an analysis to observe the impact of the training provided to 127 female farmers last year. He said, “We will prepare a report on these impact analyses and publish the results. This report will give us the opportunity to see how the training has affected the lives of the 127 female farmers and what differences it has brought about.”
Certificates awarded to successful female farmers
After the 5-day training, certificates were awarded to 21 successful female farmers from Ayvalık. Ayvalık Chamber of Commerce President Ali Uçar, present at the certificate ceremony, stated that they support every effort and project aimed at bringing Ayvalık’s olives and olive oil to their deserved level and will continue to provide such support.