Civil Society Development in Rural Areas

About the project

The Civil Society Development in Rural Areas Project was implemented under the EU Civil Society Support Programme III, aiming to strengthen rural civil society organizations (CSOs) and improve their advocacy and participation in decision-making processes related to agriculture, rural development, and environmental sustainability. The project was coordinated by Akdeniz Naturel Yaşam Derneği (NATURELDER).

Activities

During the 12-month project period (April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022), the following key activities were carried out:

• Mapping and needs assessment of rural CSOs, identifying their organizational strengths and weaknesses.
• Advocacy and lobbying training for CSO representatives to enhance their role in policy-making and governance.
• Public awareness campaigns on the negative effects of herbicide overuse and alternative weed management methods.
• Collaboration between CSOs and local authorities, ensuring rural development issues were included in municipal councils.
• Development of a handbook and an online platform, ensuring sustainable access to training resources.

A major achievement of the project was the integration of sustainable herbicide use training into the Ministry of Agriculture’s Farmer Education Programme, contributing to long-term improvements in agricultural practices.

The project was funded by the EU Civil Society Support Programme III, with a total budget of €111,066 under project number TR2016/DG/03/A3-01/018.

Research publication from the project

The producer surveys conducted through our project formed the basis of Hilmi Torun’s study, Determination of Weeds and Herbicides about Consciousness Levels of Agricultural Producers: Mersin Province Example. It was published in the Turkish Journal of Weed Science on 4 July 2022 (25/1, pp. 32–39).

The study examined knowledge and awareness of weeds, herbicide use and environmental effects through a 21-question survey of 39 producers in Mersin in 2021. NATURELDER contributed by enabling the surveys to be carried out.

The Turkish full text, which includes an English abstract, is available in the Project outputs section below. The original PDF is shared unchanged under the CC BY-NC 4.0 licence, with the publication record also available on DergiPark.