Country Profile - Turkey

Turkey occupies a unique geographical and cultural position at the cross-roads between Europe and Asia. The country is undergoing rapid and far-reaching changes in its social, economic and cultural life. Many of the most important of these changes are connected with the transformation of an essentially rural society into a mainly urban and industrial one. However nearly half of all workers in the country are employed in the agricultural sector and agriculture makes a significant contribution to the economy.

Turkey has a total land area of 76.9 million hectares of which 28 million hectares are arable. This represents an increase of some 250% in the total cultivable area since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923.

Soil erosion is one of the most urgent environmental problems faced by the country, with 30.5% of all soils defined as thin (20-50cm), and 37.5% as very thin (<20cm). More than 500 million tons of productive soil is lost annually. Other agricultural lands suffer from poor drainage, are too saline or subject to drought.

Turkey is particularly rich in wetlands, possessing 250 separate areas of wetland with a total area exceeding 1 million hectares. The draining of Turkey's wetlands started in the years when malaria was widespread and became the responsibility of the State Department of Hydraulic Works in the 1950s. In the following years, the original purpose of draining wetlands was replaced with the aim of gaining additional farmland and gradually more extensive areas were affected.

Cereals, especially wheat, are Turkey's most important crop. The country is one of the world's biggest wheat producers, alongside Russia, the United States, India, Canada and France. Except for certain processed products, wheat is not an export crop.

Turkey's most important agricultural exports are tobacco, cotton, dried fruit (hazelnuts, seedless raisins, figs, apricots), pulses (chickpeas and lentils), live sheep, goats, fresh fruits (apples and citrus fruits) and fresh tomatoes. Exports of processed agricultural products include tomato puree, some mutton and sugar, processed nuts and canned fruit.

Agriculture also plays a key role in supplying raw materials to industry, especially sugar, tobacco, tea and cotton. In 1993, Turkey was the world's fourth largest tobacco producer, although production has since fallen back. Sugarbeet production has increased as sugar has replaced other sweeteners.

Turkey is virtually self-sufficient in the main food crops, although the rapid growth in population and per capita income has led to the demand for food outstripping agricultural production, and a shift in consumption towards livestock products. A consequence is that the share of consumption of major commodities met from domestic sources has decreased over the last decade.

Although Turkey remains a net exporter of food products, imports, particularly of dairy products and beef, are tending to grow faster than exports. Significant quantities of rice and processed food products are imported, and the imports of both cotton and burley tobacco have increased as a result of more liberal trade policies.

Turkey's main markets are Europe and the Middle East. The rapid population growth of the Middle East and the continuing affluence deriving from petroleum products suggest that this region will continue to provide an attractive market for Turkish food stuffs for many years, but Turkish entrepreneurs are also looking towards the expanding markets of south-east Asia, the large populations of India and Pakistan and towards the North African states of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. They are also aware that Turkey has as yet no foothold in the immense Chinese market.

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