pillars of food security. Consequently, increases in the refugee population and their
food consumption are a threat to Turkey’s food security.
The food security sector continues to provide support to Syrians located both in
camps and outside camps. This is managed by several organizations for providing
food security in Turkey. The main and also leading agency is the World Food
Programme (WFP) that cooperates with other partners, such as the International
Organization for Migration (IOM), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) and four other NGO. Their activities are based on ensuring
the four pillars of food security as much as possible. Therefore, their main goals
include encouraging stable access to food, especially for people suffering from the
Syrian crisis, supporting food availability, and sustaining production and utilization
of food. They also want to provide food assistance in a more effective and coordinated way.
The majority of Syrian refugees rely on humanitarian food assistance as their
primary source of food. In 2012, a very important step was taken with the creation
of an electronic voucher system. This system was established as the most beneficial
contribution in guaranteeing food security assistance to Syrian refugees in Turkey
(3RP, 2015) by the WFP in cooperation with the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) and
the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD). According to
research conducted by the WFP, 90% of refugees in camps, supported by the WFP
and the TRC, have an adequate diet and an acceptable Food Consumption Score
(FCS), which is comprised of the quantity and diversity of the diet of refugees. Poor
or borderline food consumption is rare in these camps and the majority of refugees
have acceptable food consumption (WFP, 2013). The introduction of the Electronic
Food Card Programme allows camp residents to meet their food and other needs by
purchasing goods from supermarkets inside the camps (Kirişçi, 2014: 27–28).
However, about 90% of Syrian refugees in Turkey remain outside camp settings
and have limited access to basic services. The International Organization for
Migration also distributes food vouchers to Syrian refugees outside camps. The
E-card Food Programme is provided to 150,000 refugees in camps and to 82,122
refugees living outside camps. In the near future, the WFP wants to increase its
support to about 735,000 refugees and develop a more sophisticated off-camp
programme.
In 2014, Turkey became the WFP’s largest supplier of food commodities in the
world. Food consumption scores are banked into three groups: poor, borderline, or
acceptable. The WFP’s current study showed that a food consumption score of 71%
of interviewed households of Syrians is acceptable. Borderline food consumption is
typical for 23% of households and poor food consumption is suffered by 6% of
households. This means that, in total, 29% of households are not able to meet their
food needs. The composition of daily intake is inadequate, and data show that these
households eat oil, cereals and sugar almost every day, dairy products and vegetables roughly every second day, and pulses twice a week. In Turkey there is a lack
of data on the food security of off-camp refugees. It is difficult to monitor the
off-camp situation and gather data, but the data that are available reveal a precarious
136
S. İ. Gürsoy
food consumption are a threat to Turkey’s food security.
The food security sector continues to provide support to Syrians located both in
camps and outside camps. This is managed by several organizations for providing
food security in Turkey. The main and also leading agency is the World Food
Programme (WFP) that cooperates with other partners, such as the International
Organization for Migration (IOM), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) and four other NGO. Their activities are based on ensuring
the four pillars of food security as much as possible. Therefore, their main goals
include encouraging stable access to food, especially for people suffering from the
Syrian crisis, supporting food availability, and sustaining production and utilization
of food. They also want to provide food assistance in a more effective and coordinated way.
The majority of Syrian refugees rely on humanitarian food assistance as their
primary source of food. In 2012, a very important step was taken with the creation
of an electronic voucher system. This system was established as the most beneficial
contribution in guaranteeing food security assistance to Syrian refugees in Turkey
(3RP, 2015) by the WFP in cooperation with the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) and
the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD). According to
research conducted by the WFP, 90% of refugees in camps, supported by the WFP
and the TRC, have an adequate diet and an acceptable Food Consumption Score
(FCS), which is comprised of the quantity and diversity of the diet of refugees. Poor
or borderline food consumption is rare in these camps and the majority of refugees
have acceptable food consumption (WFP, 2013). The introduction of the Electronic
Food Card Programme allows camp residents to meet their food and other needs by
purchasing goods from supermarkets inside the camps (Kirişçi, 2014: 27–28).
However, about 90% of Syrian refugees in Turkey remain outside camp settings
and have limited access to basic services. The International Organization for
Migration also distributes food vouchers to Syrian refugees outside camps. The
E-card Food Programme is provided to 150,000 refugees in camps and to 82,122
refugees living outside camps. In the near future, the WFP wants to increase its
support to about 735,000 refugees and develop a more sophisticated off-camp
programme.
In 2014, Turkey became the WFP’s largest supplier of food commodities in the
world. Food consumption scores are banked into three groups: poor, borderline, or
acceptable. The WFP’s current study showed that a food consumption score of 71%
of interviewed households of Syrians is acceptable. Borderline food consumption is
typical for 23% of households and poor food consumption is suffered by 6% of
households. This means that, in total, 29% of households are not able to meet their
food needs. The composition of daily intake is inadequate, and data show that these
households eat oil, cereals and sugar almost every day, dairy products and vegetables roughly every second day, and pulses twice a week. In Turkey there is a lack
of data on the food security of off-camp refugees. It is difficult to monitor the
off-camp situation and gather data, but the data that are available reveal a precarious
136
S. İ. Gürsoy