Corporate Impact in Focus: A Deep Dive into Tekfen Foundation/Toros Tarım's Women Farmers’ Loan Initiative
Understanding the real-world application of Social Return on Investment (SROI) by corporations provides invaluable insights into how businesses are measuring and managing their social impact
This blog post takes a deep dive into one such example "Women Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Loan" project, a collaborative initiative in Turkey involving the Tekfen Foundation and Toros Tarım. By examining the context, methodology, findings, and corporate benefits of this SROI-assured project, we can better appreciate the nuances of applying this framework in a corporate setting.
A. Setting the Scene
The Corporations, The Initiative, and The Social Challenge
The "Women Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Loan" project is a noteworthy example of corporate social investment aimed at addressing specific socio-economic challenges.
The key entities involved are:
Tekfen Foundation: The philanthropic arm of the Tekfen Group, a major publicly traded Turkish conglomerate with a long-standing commitment to social responsibility. The Foundation was established in 1999 to provide a more focused structure for Tekfen's philanthropic activities.
Toros Tarım: An agricultural company within the Tekfen Holding group. Toros Tarım plays a crucial role by providing agricultural expertise and training to the beneficiaries of the loan project.
TISVA (Türkiye İsrafı Önleme Vakfı – Turkish Foundation for Waste Reduction): An NGO partnering in the project, responsible for the operational aspects of loan allocation and collection, and also contributing additional funds to the initiative.
Launched in 2021, the initiative directly confronts the issue of gender inequality within Turkish agriculture. While women constitute a significant portion of the agricultural labor force, they often face disparities in wages and access to essential resources compared to their male counterparts. The project's core mission is to empower women farmers by providing them with access to low-cost capital and vital agricultural expertise. This support enables them to establish or expand their own small agricultural enterprises, fostering economic independence and enhancing their livelihoods. The pilot phase of the project involved 80 women farmers across several provinces in the Aegean region of Turkey.
This project effectively demonstrates a multi-stakeholder partnership model for delivering social impact. The corporate foundation (Tekfen) supplies the primary financial capital, an operating company within the same group (Toros Tarım) contributes specialized technical expertise and training, and an NGO (TISVA) manages the loan operations and leverages additional funding. This synergistic structure, drawing upon the unique strengths of each partner, likely contributes significantly to the project's overall effectiveness and its ability to deliver a holistic intervention. Furthermore, the initiative's deliberate focus on "entrepreneurial" loans coupled with intensive skill-building, rather than providing direct aid alone, indicates a strategic commitment to fostering long-term economic independence and resilience among women farmers. This approach aims for sustainable change, moving beyond immediate relief to cultivate self-sufficient entrepreneurs, which can have profound and lasting ripple effects on family well-being, community development, and the broader rural economy.
B. The SROI Journey
Methodology and Stakeholder Engagement in Practice
The SROI analysis for the Women Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Loan project was conducted evaluatively, meaning it assessed the impact after the first year of operations, from March 2021 to April 2022. The methodology rigorously adhered to the eight core principles of SROI, ensuring a structured and principled approach to measuring social value.
A cornerstone of the SROI methodology is stakeholder engagement, and this project placed significant emphasis on capturing the experiences of those most affected:
Primary Stakeholders
The women farmers who received the loans were the primary focus. A substantial 56 out of the 80 participants in the pilot phase were interviewed via telephone to gather data on the changes they experienced.
Other Key Stakeholders: A manager from Toros Tarım was interviewed online to provide insights from the perspective of a key implementing partner. TISVA, as the operational NGO partner, was also integral to the project's ecosystem.
Engagement Methods
One-on-one phone interviews were selected as the primary method for engaging with the women farmers. These interviews were designed to understand expected and actual changes, the investments made by the women (time, effort), the activities they undertook, the positive and negative outcomes they experienced, and the relative importance they placed on these outcomes. A "Value Game," a participatory technique, was employed during these interviews to help stakeholders assign financial proxies to the identified outcomes, reflecting their perceived value. To further ensure the robustness of the findings, verification interviews were conducted with a subset of the participating farmers.
In terms of Valuation and Impact Calculation, financial proxies for the outcomes were determined using the "Value Game" method, grounding the monetary values in the stakeholders' own perspectives. To ensure that the project's impact was not overstated (Principle 5: Do Not Over-Claim), the analysis systematically considered factors such as deadweight (changes that would have occurred anyway, without the project) and attribution (the extent to which other factors or organizations contributed to the outcomes).
The methodology's reliance on self-reported data for outcomes, deadweight, and attribution, gathered primarily through interviews, is a common and practical approach in many SROI analyses. However, it is important to acknowledge that this can introduce a degree of subjectivity. The SVI assurance obtained for the report, which focuses on adherence to principles rather than direct data verification, would not fully mitigate this inherent aspect of self-reported information. Nevertheless, the depth of stakeholder engagement, exemplified by interviewing 70% (56 out of 80) of the primary beneficiaries for a pilot project's initial SROI, signals a strong commitment from the sponsoring organizations. This level of engagement suggests a genuine desire to understand and learn directly from the beneficiaries' experiences, gathering rich qualitative data that goes beyond merely calculating a ratio. Such an approach positions the SROI not just as an evaluation, but as a critical learning tool for the future refinement and potential scaling of the initiative.
C. Measuring What Matters
Key Social Outcomes and the SROI Ratio Achieved
The SROI analysis of the Women Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Loan project yielded significant findings, quantifying the social value generated relative to the investment made.
SROI Ratio: The project achieved an SROI ratio of 1:6.60. This indicates that for every 1 Turkish Lira (TRY) invested in the initiative, 6.60 TRY of social value was created for the stakeholders involved.
The analysis identified several key social outcomes, primarily for the women farmers, but also for one of the key partners, Toros Tarım which include the followings
Key Social Outcomes for Women Farmers
Expanding Farming Activities
A significant outcome was the ability of many women to expand their agricultural operations. Specifically, 23 out of the 56 interviewed women reported that the microcredit enabled them to cover essential input costs, plant more crops, or, in some instances, diversify into livestock breeding. The analysis determined an average depth of change of 40% for this outcome, indicating a substantial positive shift.
Increase in Self-Confidence
Beyond the economic benefits, the project fostered personal development. Eight out of 56 women explicitly reported an increase in self-confidence stemming from their ability to farm independently and earn their own income. The weighted average increase in self-confidence was calculated at 40%.
Financial Stress (Negative Outcome)
The report commendably included a negative outcome. Eight of the 56 women farmers experienced financial stress. This was attributed to the structure of weekly installment payments for the loan, which became challenging for some, particularly those who sold their produce directly in marketplaces and were affected by high inflation rates during the period. The depth of this negative change was considered to be 100% for those affected, highlighting its significance.
Key Outcome for Toros Tarım
Increase in Awareness about Women Farmers' Role
The project led to a significant realization within Toros Tarım regarding the leading role women play in the agriculture sector and their remarkable eagerness and capacity to learn and apply new farming techniques.
The reported SROI ratio of 1:6.60 is substantial, indicating a strong positive social return. This value is driven by a combination of direct economic empowerment for the women farmers (such as the expansion of their farming activities) and more intangible, yet highly valued, personal development outcomes like increased self-confidence. The inclusion of "Financial Stress" as a negative outcome adds a layer of credibility and transparency to the analysis, demonstrating a commitment to presenting a balanced and honest picture of the project's impact. This holistic view, capturing both positive and adverse changes, is a hallmark of a robust SROI analysis.
The negative outcome of "Financial Stress," despite the project's intention to provide "very low-cost loans" , is particularly insightful. It underscores the complex interplay between microfinance initiatives and broader macroeconomic factors, such as inflation, as well as the importance of market access for beneficiaries. This finding is crucial for informing potential refinements to loan terms, repayment schedules, or the provision of additional support mechanisms in future iterations or expansions of the project, ensuring that the financial instruments are appropriately structured within the beneficiaries' economic realities.
D. Assurance Details
Understanding the Verification
To lend credibility to its findings, the SROI report for the Women Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Loan project underwent an assurance process.
Assurance Provider
The report was certified by Social Value International (SVI). It's noted that Social Value UK now known as Institute for Social Value typically carries out the assurance service on behalf of Social Value International SVI.
Scope of Assurance
The assurance process assessed whether the report demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of, and was consistent with, the Principles of Social Value. This means the review focused on the methodological rigor and adherence to the SROI framework.
Level of Assurance
Crucially, the assurance statement clarifies that the process does not include verification of the stakeholder engagement activities, the underlying report data, or the detailed calculations that led to the SROI ratio. The assurance is solely against the Principles of Social Value.
Date of Assurance
The assurance was awarded on 15/03/2023.
The SVI assurance, while providing a valuable endorsement of the methodological approach employed, explicitly carves out the verification of raw data and the specifics of stakeholder engagement processes from its scope. This implies that the robustness of the final SROI ratio and the detailed outcome valuations heavily depend on the quality of the primary research, data collection, and analytical rigor applied by the report authors (identified as Etkiyap in the acknowledgments ). For corporate sponsors like Tekfen, an SVI-assured report, even one that is principles-only, offers a recognized stamp of approval. This can be highly valuable for external communications, enhancing the credibility of their CSR narratives and potentially attracting further support or partnerships.
However, for internal decision-makers focusing on strategic planning, program refinement, or resource allocation, a deeper scrutiny of the underlying data, assumptions, and the specific financial proxies used would likely be necessary to complement the principles-based assurance.
E. Beyond the Numbers
The Value Proposition for Tekfen Foundation and Toros Tarım
The SROI analysis provided significant value to both the Tekfen Foundation and Toros Tarım, extending beyond the headline ratio.
For Tekfen Foundation
Demonstrating Impact & Attracting Funding
The SROI ratio of 1:6.60 serves as "solid proof that we did the right thing," as stated in the report. There's an explicit hope that this quantified social impact will be an "effective tool to bring new financiers on board".
Informing Future Strategy
The analysis enables the Foundation to better understand stakeholder perspectives, particularly "what the women farmers think and feel." This insight is crucial for guiding future decisions regarding the project, including potential modifications and further fund allocation.
Alignment with Mission
The project and its SROI documentation directly reflect the Foundation's strategic shift from traditional "social responsibility" towards more measurable "social investment to social impact".
For Toros Tarım
Increased Awareness and Market Insight
A key outcome for Toros Tarım was a significantly increased awareness of the vital role women play in agriculture and their capacity to quickly learn and apply new knowledge. This insight into their customer base and the effectiveness of their support services is a direct business-relevant benefit.
Knowledge Transfer Multiplier Effect
Toros Tarım observed that the women farmers effectively transfer the agricultural knowledge they gain to their husbands and other farmers in their communities. This creates a multiplier effect, amplifying the impact of Toros Tarım's training and expertise dissemination at no additional direct cost to the company.
Enhanced Reputation & CSR Profile
Active partnership in a successful and well-documented social impact project like this enhances Toros Tarım's image as a socially responsible leader in the agricultural sector.
Potential Long-Term Market Development
By supporting the productivity, success, and empowerment of farmers—who are their ultimate customers—Toros Tarım can foster greater loyalty and contribute to a more robust and sustainable agricultural sector, which is in their long-term business interest.
This case study powerfully illustrates how corporate SROI can function as a multifaceted tool. For Tekfen Foundation, it serves to justify social investments to leadership and external funders. Simultaneously, for the involved business unit, Toros Tarım, it uncovers valuable operational insights and strengthens stakeholder relations. This dual benefit—enhancing external communication and providing internal strategic intelligence—builds a compelling argument for broader corporate adoption of SROI as a means to both measure and manage social impact effectively.