Carried out in collaboration with the GIZ, TEPAV, and Istanbul Planning Agency, the project is to determine ways of improving the resilience of Istanbul’s food systems to shocks.

Within the scope of the PEP-Promotion of Economic Prospects Program financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the project which began in Adana and is taking place in Gaziantep as well, “Facilitating Public-Private Dialogue Mechanisms”, has launched its Istanbul leg. Hosted by the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA), the signing ceremony was held in Turkey’s largest city on Tuesday, September 14th, 2021. The signing ceremony was attended by Cihanser İmren Kuru, Portfolio Manager of the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) Turkey; Alberto Vega-Exposito, Program Director of GIZ’s Promotion of Economic Prospects for Refugees and Host Community in Turkey Project (PEP); Emrah Şahan, IPA President; Güven Sak, TEPAV’s Founding Director; and representatives of project stakeholders.

GIZ Turkey Portfolio Manager Cihanser İmren Kuru briefly introduced the PEP portfolio and provided an update on GIZ activities in Turkey. Speaking afterwards, GIZ PEP Program Director Alberto Vega-Exposito stated that, together with TEPAV, the Istanbul part of the Facilitating Public-Private Dialogue Mechanisms project will focus on making food systems more sustainable and resilient for those in the lower-income bracket. Exposito also highlighted that they will cooperate with the IPA on Istanbul's 2050 vision to produce concrete results while determining the strategic directions of the project.

Speaking after Exposito, TEPAV Founding Director Güven Sak underlined that global developments are going to be taken into account with regards to food systems in Istanbul and that reducing the costs of living in the city is one of the critical precursors of the study.

Last but not least, IPA President Emrah Şahan stated that although the IPA has only been in operation for 1.5 years, it has so far worked with 2,500 individuals/institutions and more than 400 academics. He stated that food systems are very important for the resilience of Istanbul in all areas and expressed his thanks to GIZ and TEPAV for the cooperation established in this field.

Following the remarks, GIZ, TEPAV, and IPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the project to increase the resilience of food systems to shocks.