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The Food Banking Summit will be held on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, hosted by TİDER at Beykoz University. The summit will address the most critical issues threatening 'Food Security and Fair Access to Food' and will discuss solutions. Gabriela A. Kafarhire, who will share experiences from the Global FoodBanking Network, points out that the summit, organized one year after the February 6 earthquakes, is proof of the strength of the Turkish people.

"The Basic Needs Association (TİDER), the sole representative of the Global FoodBanking Network in Turkey, will host a summit on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, at Beykoz University with the main theme 'Agricultural Production and Food: Becoming Self-Sufficient Again'. The summit will discuss the most critical issues threatening 'Food Security and Fair Access to Food' and propose solutions."

"Humanity faces a threat of hunger unprecedented in history due to the disruption and 'crises' in the global food system. Wars, pandemics, natural disasters, and the climate crisis continue to increase their impact by triggering each other as factors that overturn the global food system.

Today, while approximately 800 million people around the world suffer from hunger, one third of the produced food is lost or wasted. According to scientists, 10% of global emissions causing the climate crisis stem from lost or wasted food, while strategic errors of leaders in food production, distribution, and storage, along with incorrect consumption habits, are compounding the 'risk of hunger'.

"The Summit, a testament to the food banking model"

Gabriela A. Kafarhire, Program Manager for the Middle East and Africa Region of the Global FoodBanking Network, who will share experiences from food banking implemented in over 50 countries around the world, along with other speakers from South Africa, Germany, and Thailand, emphasized in her message before the summit that "TİDER hosting the 4th Food Banking Summit a year after the devastating earthquake, which will have long-lasting effects, is a testament to the resilience of the Turkish people and to the established effective food banking network model."

Kafarhire, pointing out that food banks are the link between surplus food and people who have difficulty accessing it, reported that last year food banks operating in over 50 countries within the GFN network reached 32 million people, distributing 651 million kilograms of food, and highlighted the ongoing importance of how to fix the disruption in the global food system or how to deliver food aid to millions currently facing hunger as one of the world's most urgent agendas.

The importance of food access in disaster situations

Hande Tibuk, the President of TİDER, the host of the summit to be held at Beykoz University on February 7th, emphasized that the earthquake disaster that occurred last year in 11 provinces and affected 13.5 million of our citizens once again highlighted the importance of food production and distribution, and Food Banking.

Over the last six years, Tibuk said, TİDER has expanded its operations to 36 provinces and 67 food banks and expressed the organization's goal as follows: "TİDER's primary goal is to open a Food Bank in every province of Turkey, to take care of our food, and to be able to reach all those in need."

What topics will be discussed at the summit on February 7th?

At the summit, which will be hosted by the Basic Needs Association (TİDER) under the main theme of "Agricultural production and food: Becoming self-sufficient again," experts on the subject will discuss the strategically important "food" issue, covering topics such as:

✓ Climate change and agriculture/food production 
✓ Food security and fair access to food 
✓ Inequality in food sharing 
✓ Food Banking in Disasters 
✓ Food Banking and global examples 
✓ Changing consumption habits and preventing waste,

They will discuss resources and solutions.

Program: FEBRUARY 07, 2024, WEDNESDAY (Presented by FOX TV Program Producer Merve Yıldırım)

09:30 – 10:00 Opening Speeches
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Durman, Rector of Beykoz University
Hande Tibuk, Basic Needs Association, Board President

10.00 – 11.00 The Importance of Food Banking in Disasters – Disaster Platform Activities
Moderator: Duygu Demirdağ, Journalist, Producer
Nil Tibukoğlu, General Manager, Basic Needs Association
Mehmet Sarıca, IDEMA Board Chairman – Warehouse and logistics management in disasters
Melsen Tunca, TOKTUT, Access to hot meals and water in disasters
Ebru Baybara Demir, Chef, Social Entrepreneur, Gönül Mutfağı Coop. "Soup kitchen earthquake efforts"

11:00 – 11:15 Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:15 How Do We Prevent Waste in Agriculture?
Moderator: Semra Sevinç, Director of Sustainability Academy, Turkey
Tülin Akın, Tabit Smart Agriculture Technologies Inc., Smart Village Project
Yasemin Kireç, CEO of Anadolu Meadows, Regenerative Agriculture Projects
Selda Susal Saatçi, Anadolu Efes Group Corporate Communications and Relations Director

12:15 – 12:30 Basic Needs Association (TİDER) Employment Project and SupportHR Website Presentation

12:30 – 13:45 Lunch
13:45 – 14:45 The Development of Food Banking Around the World
Moderator: Gabriela Kafarhire, Global Food Banking Network – USA
Ryan Harty, Product Recovery from Agriculture and HoReCa Sector, Tafel, Germany Food Bank
Andy Du Plessis, Food Forward South Africa Food Bank, Large Agriculture Project
James Leyson, Scholars of Sustenance Thailand Food Bank

14.45 – 15.45 A Scientific Look at Losses and Waste in the Food Value Chain
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Mehmet Pala, Haliç University, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr. Rüştü Bozkurt, NB Economy Journal. Infrastructure