English
Regions at risk of neglect require revitalisation through the diversification of agricultural initiatives and the enhancement of opportunities for young women. Consequently, the primary aim of the SOFAR project, led by Gazi University, is to cultivate the abilities and expertise of a core group of social agripreneurship catalysts, rooted in academia and non-governmental organisations. This initiative strives to promote the concept, assimilate it within university curricula and NGO adult learning resources, thereby fostering educational and employment prospects for women and marginalised learners in rural settings.
Rural territories stand on the brink of desertion, as women and the youth encounter scant employment prospects. Additionally, there is an absence of educational opportunities and requisite skills to sustain agricultural projects or other rural enterprises. Social agripreneurship, denoting entrepreneurship within agriculture and related fields with a societal objective, has emerged as an innovative model for rejuvenating rural zones while unlocking new avenues for disadvantaged communities.
Beyond the prospect of additional income, social farming presents individuals within agricultural households, who possess pertinent training in the social domain, the opportunity to apply their skills in a work environment proximate to their farms. Moreover, the repurposing of unoccupied structures opens avenues for new business ventures. Thus, the challenge addressed by this concept is clear. Farms frequently face abandonment and rural areas witness demographic decline as ambitious young individuals migrate to larger cities in search of better prospects. It is this very deficit of employment and educational opportunities that can be mitigated by an escalation in rural social entrepreneurship, offering local alternatives to migration.The notion of social farming remains largely unexplored and seldom employed in Turkiye, where women across all educational spectrums lack essential entrepreneurial competencies. Furthermore, there is a lack of encouragement and successful agripreneur role models at every level, from small-scale farming or modest agri-tourism and food production to larger, innovative agricultural approaches. Such models are prevalent in nations like Germany, Slovenia, and Portugal, and hold the potential for adaptation.
In these countries, social agripreneurship has organically evolved through the initiatives of individuals and small communities. The concept could achieve significantly greater potential and create more opportunities for disadvantaged groups if there were more qualified and ambitious entrepreneurs and if rural advocates had the chance to acquire sector-specific entrepreneurial skills in a more systematic and recognised manner. Universities can impart these skills via service-learning approaches that support community engagement in social farming and other farm income diversification and generational transition strategies. Service learning involves acquiring knowledge through the deployment of students to practical areas, aiding communities, and applying their learning in the development of actionable competencies. This represents an innovative paradigm of University-community-business cooperation. To accomplish this approach, a consortium has been established, comprising a prominent university, leading organisations in social agripreneurship, a network of women entrepreneurs, and experts in transnational adult education. These partners, with their complementary skills and experiences, will collaborate to develop high-quality educational resources and methodologies, contributing to the formation of successful and sustainable social agribusinesses.
The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project number: 2023-1-TR01-KA220-HED-000153489
