Göksel and Gökhan are twin brothers producing greenhouse vegetables in İzmir, a city on Türkiye’s Aegean coast. Their family business has been cultivating the fertile Aegean lands for decades.
But this year has been different from previous years. Rising production costs forced Gökhan to lease his part of the land to another farmer instead of cultivating it himself. Göksel faced difficulties paying his four workers, two of which are Syrian. Losing their jobs would have major implications for these workers as it would mean interrupting their path to labor market integration and to full self-sufficiency.
Labor market integration of Türkiye’s nearly 3.8 million Syrian refugees has emerged as a key challenge as the government shifts its focus from humanitarian aid to development assistance. Agriculture has the potential to absorb a significant share of the Syrian refugee population, and in fact many Syrians are already engaged in agricultural labor. However, the sector faces low productivity growth and limited market integration. Combined with the low-skill, short-term, and seasonal nature of work, there is little incentive for employers to incur the costs of formalization—paying minimum wages and social security contributions, as well adhering to a whole host of labor laws. The result? More than 80 percent of workers in the sector are informal.
Addressing the multiple constraints limiting formal employment opportunities in agriculture
But when Göksel and Gökhan heard about a new project by the Agricultural Credit Cooperatives of Türkiye, supported by the World Bank, they became hopeful. The project is based on the premise that absorbing Syrians in agriculture and ensuring favorable working conditions requires addressing constraints facing both farmers and workers. Financed by the European Union with a grant of €47 million through its Facility for Refugees in Türkiye, and managed by the World Bank, the Formal Employment Support in Agricultural Sector (FESAS) project covers six Turkish provinces—Adana, Adıyaman, Bursa, Gaziantep, İzmir and Mersin—with the goal of facilitating the transition of refugees and Turkish citizens into formal employment in agriculture.
The FESAS project combines innovative and complementary interventions, which simultaneously aim to increase the supply of skilled labor and encourage their formal hiring. On the demand side, the project expands the Agricultural Credit Cooperatives’ (ACC) contract farming agreements to allow farmers to move into higher-value crops, improve market access and thereby increase demand for skilled labor. To support this process, eligible farmers are provided with temporary wage subsidies to reduce the costs of formally hiring workers. The project also assesses farmer needs for workers and provides them with technical assistance including training on worker management.
On the labor supply side, registered workers are evaluated to understand their skills, experience and preferences. They are then provided with technical and soft-skills training based on their profile and the skills demanded by the farmers, with additional language training for Syrians as needed.
Based on the farmers and workers who register, the project is developing a database of trained workers, a database of vacancies as well as an algorithm to match workers to job vacancies. The matching algorithm has the potential to improve efficiency, reduce turnover, and promote employment of workers for a longer period of time.
Maintaining business operations through multiple crises
Since February 2022, when the project started its full implementation in all provinces, results have been extremely encouraging. Interest from farmers has been significant. More than 1,000 farmers applied to participate in the project by May 2022, and more than 280 applications were approved. In just three months, 1,348 workers, or over 15 percent of the project’s goal, have already signed a formal employment contract, of which 353 were refugees.
Reflecting about the project Göksel said: “In these difficult times, the project’s financial support has been vital for maintaining our business operations. It was a relief to get more than half of the worker’s salary covered.”
Together with his two Turkish and two Syrian workers, Göksel produces vegetables like eggplant, cucumber, and lettuce in a greenhouse facility. He also highlights the risk of occupational hazards in using agricultural mechanics in their work. In the project, workers are formally employed and have social security for occupational health and safety.
“This protects workers as well as employers against an occupational hazard,” he said. “This is an important step for all. It has been a lifeline support for us.”
Refugee integration into labor markets is a complex policy challenge across many countries and regions. By adopting an innovative approach, the FESAS project has great potential to generate valuable policy lessons on how to promote refugee integration, while at the same time containing the prices of food products. Documenting the lessons and progress of this project will help address policy challenges in Türkiye and inform similar interventions in other countries.
