5 March 2009 Samsun (Turkey): ENAMA kicks off European project “SAFER – Safer Agriculture for Employees in Rural”.
In Turkey the number of accidents in the agricultural sector is second only to that in the building industry. The main cause of this incidence is the poor level of worker education and training. In other sectors the process under way to harmonise Turkish legislation with European laws and regulations is already producing significant results, yet progress in the agricultural sector has been slowed down, in small family concerns in particular, by socio-economic factors (seasonal nature of employment, illiteracy). The most urgent problem relates to the safe use of agricultural machinery and equipment, and of technical means, in particular plant protection products.
In response to this situation, the Leonardo project “SAFER – Safer Agriculture for Employees in Rural” is the first step in providing the tools needed to train the makers and users of agricultural machinery on the subject of safety. The project, financed by the European Commission through the “Leonardo da Vinci Life Long Learning Programme”, aims to transfer innovative training materials produced in similar projects in which ENAMA has participated as a partner (“Safety First”, “For.Ma.Agri” projects), adapting them to the needs of Turkey’s agricultural sector and socio-economic situation in general. “SAFER” is the first project to be financed at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Ondokuz Mayis University of Samsun, Turkey, and the first innovation transfer project in a non-EU country to be undertaken by ENAMA.
In addition to ENAMA, the project partnership is formed by Turkish and Spanish institutions and organisations:
- Samsun University – Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Mechanics (Ondokuz Mayis University- Ziraat Fakültesi, Tarım Makinaları Bölümü);
- Ankara University – Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Mechanics (Ankara Üniversitesi - Ziraat Fakültesi, Tarim Makinalari Bölümü);
- the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture, with the two offices PERMEM (training) and TÜGEM (best practices in agriculture);
- the Turkish association of agricultural machinery and equipment manufacturers and resellers (TARMAKBIR: Türk Tarım Alet ve Makineleri IIalatçıları Birliği);
- Union of Turkish Chambers of Agriculture (TZOB)
- the Spanish agri-food sector trade union Federacion Agroalimentaria de Comisiones Obreras;
- Spanish consulting company specialising in European projects, Asesoria Declerq SL Estudios Europeos;
The project has a duration of two years (2009-2010), preliminary results and further information will soon be available at the project website.
