Women`s cooperative movement in Turkey started in early 2000s with the aim to bring female labor force into economy, support and develop social and cultural activities of women, and provide better health and environment.

One of the examples of the this trend is Hıdırlık Agricultural Development Cooperative founded by seven women in 2010 to give women of Seferihisar district of Izmir, Turkey,  an opportunity to earn livings from production and sale of home-made food and products and gain economic independence.

Nowadays, the Hıdırlık Rural Development Cooperative consists of more than 80 members, where more than 400 women are direct economic beneficiaries.

To ensure the adequate income for the producers and farmers, especially women, the solution organizes women-producer and offers them services in selling home-made food and products via the internet and providing trainings on food preparation, hygiene and agriculture to improve the quality of the products.

The members of the cooperative collect local natural products such as grapes and other fruits grown in home gardens and sale the products through e-commerce. Cooperative products offered to the customers in Izmir and Istanbul are highly demanded due to low prices as women put a small commission of 2%, on the products. The significant increase in orders has affected logistics in town, increasing the number of “Cargo Business”. This initiative also motivates husbands of women to engage in sales by taking orders. 

The cooperative use "organic agriculture" and "good farming" production methods in order to supply more organic agriculture products, including  organic seeds.

Women sale the products on local Bazaars on Sundays and on "producer bazaar" (spices, fruits, vegetables, honey, herbs, pickles, bread, cheese, eggs, etc.) on Tuesdays for customers from Seferihisar and neighboring districts.

The solution achieved the following results:

• Empowered women by providing online sales opportunities for their products;
• Enhanced food security by creating direct sales channels between the producers and customers all over the country;
• Annual turnover estimated TL’s  000.

The cooperative activities cause substantial social effect in the area: increased women visibility in society; the increased earnings led to invest more in education of children; motivated young females to receive higher education and reduced migration of locals to big cities

Partners: Seferihisar Municipality, Association for Supporting Slow Living, Izmir University of Economics Culinary Arts Department.

Contact information:
Turkey
Hıdırlık Agricultural Development Cooperative
Address: 107. Street No. 12 Tepecik Mahallesi Seferihisar / Izmir
Contact person: Dilek Özkan
Telephone: 0 541 955 16 11
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.