Promoting Agricultural Value Chains
In the OIC Member Countries
1
Executive Summary
Agriculture in the OIC Member Countries
In many OIC member countries, agriculture is an important sector, both as a contributor to
GDP and as a source of employment. Agriculture accounted for 9 percent of GDP in the OIC in
2013 and 22.3 percent of the workforce in 2010-2012. At country level, Indonesia has the
highest share of total OIC agricultural GDP (14.4 percent) with US$ 125.3 billion in 2013. Four
member countries (Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, Pakistan) accounted for 51 percent of the OIC
agricultural GDP, with a total of US$ 346.8 billion in 2013.
In 2013, the five most important agricultural products produced in OIC Member Countries
were (in quantity) palm oil, rice, sugar cane, wheat and cassava; and (in value) rice, milk, yams,
wheat and poultry. For palm oil and rice, OIC Member Countries were also among the Top 5
producers worldwide: Malaysia, Indonesia and Nigeria for palm oil, and Indonesia and
Bangladesh for rice. OIC Member Countries are the leading producers for only few highly
traded agricultural commodities (palm oil, rice, coffee, cocoa, cotton, tea and sugarcane). Most
products which see a leading position of individual OIC Member Countries include minor
cereals (millet and sorghum), minor fruits (dates and figs), spices (pepper and vanilla), minor
roots and tubers (sweet potato and yams) as well as minor legumes (cow peas).
Institutional framework and public policies
Agricultural policies are highly heterogeneous amongst OIC Member Countries; yet, a broadly
shared focus on ensuring food self-sufficiency can be recognised in OIC countries with a view
to shielding themselves against the vulnerabilities of external sources. Accordingly, the main
crops produced in the OIC are staple foods produced for domestic consumption and as
feedstock for livestock. Several OIC countries are large producers of wheat (e.g. Pakistan,
Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Morocco and Uzbekistan), barley (Turkey, Kazakhstan,
Morocco), cassava (Nigeria, Indonesia, Mozambique, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Benin), maize
(Indonesia, Nigeria), millet (Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Senegal), potatoes
(Bangladesh, Iran, Algeria, Egypt), rice (Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt), and sorghum
(Nigeria, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Niger). Livestock farming for meat and dairy production is also
widespread. For most of these products, value chains remain overwhelmingly local and do not
extend to international markets.
Different policy mechanisms to protect and promote domestic production of food security
crops can be identified in OIC countries, which are applied to varying degrees: producer
subsidies; fixed prices; government control; import duties; export restrictions; donor support.
Yet, despite the focus on food self-sufficiency, the OIC is a net importer of food. For more than
two-thirds of OIC countries, food aid also plays an important role. According to a recent FAO
report, 21 out of the 37 countries worldwide which are in need of external assistance for food
in 2015 are OIC Member Countries.
In parallel to the dominant focus on self-sufficiency, a number of OIC Member Countries are
large agricultural players and export significant quantities, such as Turkey, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Egypt, and Pakistan. Particularly in South Asia, agriculture is gradually diversifying
towards high value commodities. Moves towards global value chain integration for fresh
produce can also be observed for a number of African and Arab (Mediterranean) OIC Member
Countries.