Promoting Agricultural Value Chains:
In the OIC Member Countries
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The Turkish Government has acknowledged the importance of food safety, and has been
involved in the implementation of international standards on animal welfare. An illustration of
this are the policies put in place to come into line with EU standards, with the ‘Foot and Mouth
disease Emergency Action Plan’ being a particular success. For the first time, a region in
Turkey has been declared foot-and-mouth free (Thrace) by the World Animal Health
Organization and the EU (World Bank, 2010).
5.3.3 Infrastructure and logistics
Turkey possesses a number of advantages logistically, which have developed significantly
since its entry into the EU Customs Union. Its geographic, physical, and corporate
infrastructure is one of the key attractions for potential investors. However, the general
inefficiency of meat production, coupled with high feed costs, tariffs and import restrictions,
means high prices for consumers. The net migration of young producers from central and
eastern Turkey, cattle-breeding regions that traditionally supply the rearing and fattening
units in the west and south of the country into the cities is a further complication to the
sustainability of red meat production. Developing units in central and eastern Turkey is
therefore key to ensuring the long term viability of Turkey’s livestock-rearing model.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2014-15 report, Turkey’s efficiency with
infrastructure and logistics is reasonably high. It has been given a score of 3.5 (1=low to
5=high) for its 2014 performance, suggesting it is reasonably efficient in logistical planning,
and with the infrastructural basis to support it. However, the score of 3.5 is a slight decrease
on the 2012 score of 3.51, suggesting a slightly stagnant infrastructural and logistical
environment (WEF, 2015).
5.3.4 Governance and value chain actors
The primary actor in the Turkish red meat sector is Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock
(MFAL) and its affiliated (state-owned) Meant and Milk Institution (ESK).
At the upstream level, Turkish livestock production is a predominantly small-scale activity,
within a mixed farming system; 67.4 percent of farms have some crops as well as livestock.
Small farms (under 20 ha) constitute two-thirds of the total and hold 49.8 percent and 48.7
percent of the small ruminant and cattle population respectively. Of the 2.2 million cattle
holdings in 2001, 50 percent had one to four animals (IPARD, 2013). For these farming
households, particularly in the eastern regions of the country, livestock represents an
important means of subsistence and food security.
On the other hand there is a significant degree of concentration of beef fattening in a small
number of farms that have more than 300 animals; 1.2 percent of the 72,000 specialised
holdings keep 43 percent of fattening animals. This phenomenon is driven by investments of
major capital groups and private entrepreneurs. The high capital modern intensified fattening
units are mostly concentrated in the Western part of the country. The leading producers
within Turkey are: Aytaç, Pınar, Namet, Sultan, Şahin and Sütaş which all have high capacity
units available for use.