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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.