Qudra 2 supports Seyhan Municipality’s Women Solidarity Centre to provide vertical agriculture courses in which local women learn about innovative agriculture, enabling them to grow, harvest, and sell their products in the market.
Vertical farming resembles greenhouse farming, where metal reflectors and artificial lighting augment natural sunlight. The primary goal of vertical farming is maximising crop output in a limited space. Vertical farming seeks to mitigate the risks faced by conventional agriculture and increase sustainability by preventing land loss, reducing agricultural residues, mitigating seasonal risks, and reducing water and waste problems seen in traditional agriculture. Yields per metre can therefore exceed conventional spaces ten-fold.
In Seyhan Municipality’s project, local women grow crops such as lettuces, peppers, spinach and tomatoes in a vertical greenhouse located on the terrace of a municipality-run community centre.
The products are sought after in the local market: Seyhan Municipality has successfully established cooperation with a local branch of a national supermarket chain, and some local restaurants are buying produce from the vertical garden. The earnings are distributed among the producer women.
Beyond vertical farming, Seyhan Municipality’s Women Solidarity Centre also offers other courses, including handicrafts and ceramics. Participants in the activities have set up their own cooperative, the Seyhan Producing Women Cooperative, to market their products on Turkey’s biggest e-commerce platforms, including Trendyol and Mia Mano.