The impact of the Southeast Anatolia Project (GAP) on displaced families :household livelihoods and gender relations

Abstract

The South-eastern Project or GAP (its Turkish acronym) is one of the largest dam and development projects ever planned in Turkey. The project includes agriculture, energy, irrigation, telecommunications, healthcare and education, investments and developments. Beside its potential benefits the implementation of the GAP project has raised tensions, because it has been argued that the project, far from improving the well being of local people has caused problems for significant numbers of people displaced following the construction of dams. The Birecik Dam was chosen as the focus for this study because it is the first and only example of a dam in this region for which a resettlement and rehabilitation project has been planned and implemented in order to minimise the effects of displacement on the effected communities. In addition Halfeti is chosen as a sample because it is one of the small towns that has been affected by the Birecik Dam and much of its population was resettled with government assistance. This study shows that the building of a dam can have different impacts on different households. It is observed that the more assets people have, the more resilient they are to the challenges of resettlement. Nevertheless displaced households have considerable capacity to make changes to their livelihoods and this study focuses on the achievements of people who have increased their capabilities and who have created different livelihoods despite the difficult circumstances. It was observed that resettlers have shifted from agricultural work to waged employment following the resettlement. In some households resettlement has fostered women’s participation in wage labour. This was an important improvement for young women in particular many of whom were now better educated and had increased freedom to rebuild their lives and make their own choices.