TİKA Supports Walnut Production in North Macedonia

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) provided a total of 10,240 walnut saplings to 308 families in order to support rural development and healthy food production in North Macedonia.

In the villages of Mavrovo, Rostuša, Plasnica, Debrešte, Tetovo (Šar Mountain), Jelovjane, and Urvič and the region of Karsiyaka in Skopje, where harsh economic conditions prevail and a large number of Turkic people live, families whose livelihood depends on traditional tobacco production experience financial difficulties due to the annual gradual reduction in the purchasing quota of tobacco and the decrease in prices.

TİKA launched a walnut production project in three different regions in order to create an alternative source of income for low-income families living in these regions. With the walnut saplings provided to a total of 308 families, it is aimed to improve the household economy by enabling families to engage in sustainable agricultural production.

The distribution ceremony of the project was attended by Hasan Mehmet Sekizkök, Turkey’s Ambassador to Skopje; Ismail Jaoski, an MP in the Republic of North Macedonia; Ali Jaoski, Mayor of Plasnica; Halim Ömer Söğüt, TİKA’s Skopje Coordinator; Serhat Kula, Director of Yunus Emre Institute of Skopje (YEE); and Hüsrev Emin, Chairman of the Union of Turkish Non-Governmental Organizations in Macedonia (MATÜSİTEB).

In his speech at the ceremony, Ali Jaoski, Mayor of Plasnica, thanked TİKA and the Republic of Turkey for supporting local people through this project.

In his speech at the ceremony, Hasan Mehmet Sekizkök, the Republic of Turkey’s Ambassador to Skopje, stated that the Government of Turkey would always be there for local people.

Explaining the project, Halim Ömer Söğüt, TİKA’s Skopje Coordinator, said, “Last week, we implemented a greenhouse project in Strumica, where a large number of Turkic people live. Today, we are launching another agricultural project in order to support rural development. We hope that these walnut trees will provide high income to local people.”