Organic Agriculture: The Case of Turkey

Abstract

Organic agriculture has grown rapidly throughout the world in recent years as a result of increasing consumer interest in healthy food and environmental concerns. The use of land in this operation helps to conserve the environment and promotes the sustainable use of natural resources. The demand for organic products has increased, especially in Europe, North America and Oceania, and hence has created export potential for developing countries. Turkey is a typical case among developing countries of the establishment of organic agriculture based on export potential. About 85% of its current organic production is exported to EU countries, and this is predicted to expand further. The main objectives of the study were to define the concept of organic agriculture and to describe the state of organic agriculture both worldwide and specifically in Turkey. The paper also describes major issues affecting Turkish organic agriculture and presents recommendations for developing this and related sectors in the hope that they will help to solve common problems faced by developing countries and improve policy programmes along with extension and research activities.

Organik Gıda Kavramının Kelime İlişkilendirme Testi Aracılığıyla Analizi (Analysis of Organic Food Concept Throught the Word Association Test)

“…Organik pazar büyüklüğü, 1999 yılında 15.2 milyar dolar, 2008 yılında 50.9 milyar dolar, 2009 yılında ise 54.9 milyar dolar olarak gözlenmektedir (Willer ve Klicher, 2011, s. 25). Organik gıdanın farkında olan tüketiciler her geçen gün artmaktadır (Demiryürek, Stopes ve Güzel, 2008;Willer ve Klicher, 2011).…”

Organic Farming Suffices to Feed a Country: a Large-Scale Linear Programming Model to Develop an Organic Agriculture Plan for Turkey

“…The Turkish Parliament passed the organic farming law in December 2004 and the land allocated to organic agriculture more than quadrupled since then: from 209,573 hectares in 2004 to 883,118 hectares in 2014 (Note 2). However, most organic production of Turkey was being exported (Demiryürek, Stopes, & Güzel, 2008) and the domestic market remained underdeveloped (Aktar & Ananias, 2005). Studying the state of the organic sector in Turkey, Kenanoğlu and Karahan (2002), Demiryürek (2004) and Özbilge (2007) listed the reasons for the undeveloped state of the domestic market as the limited availability of organic products and of sales channels, high price premium, lack of consumer recognition and lack of government support among the constraints impeding the development of the sector, and suggest that to expand organic production further, the domestic market for organic products needs to be developed.…”

Organic Agriculture and Undernourishment in Developing Countries: Main Potentials and Challenges

“…Such knowledge is also very important because the farmers' practical actions rely heavily on such knowledge. Training, extension and demonstration are possibly even more critical in organic than in conventional agriculture (Crucefix, 1998;Demiryürek et al, 2008) as organic approach is mostly a managerial method. In addition, OA is based on ecological processes.…”

“…Sustainable food production Food utilization -Food safety Azadi & Ho, 2010;Lairon, 2010;Rembiałkowska, 2007;Carvalho, 2006;Winter & Davis, 2006;Lu et al, 2006 -Food nutrition Williamson, 2007;Williams, 2002 41 Increasing productivity of OA Gianessi, 2009;Connor, 2008 Developing domestic markets Giovannucci, 2006;Pretty et al, 2003 Developing research facilities for OA Giovannucci, 2006 Stimulating knowledge of OA Demiryürek et al, 2008;Borron, 2006;Crucefix, 1998;Bravo-Ureta & Pinheiro, 1993 Developing institutions supporting OA Demiryürek et al, 2008;Giovannucci, 2006 Enhancing farmers' access to credits FAO, 2007 Developing farmers organizations Slight & Christman, 2007;Giovannucci, 2006 …”

“…Regarding the institutional development, Giovannucci (2006: 20) states "Perhaps the single most important factor for successful organic adoption is the availability of reliable institutional support systems (local and national) that can initially help make available the many necessary components of a successful transition…". Input subsidies and price supports are also important (Giovannucci, 2006;Demiryürek et al, 2008) as well as increasing organic farmers' access to local credits (FAO, 2007: 13). This is especially vital during the transition period: farmers may face decreasing yields and hence a decline in income.…”