THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Human beings, who are under the delusion that they will solve all kinds of problems with the power they get from the rapid development of technology, are in a great consumption frenzy.
With the unbearable lightness of consuming more, mankind has started to push the limits of the natural balance, which puts natural cycles at risk. Desertification and drought are one of the consequences of the deterioration of the natural balance.
Desertification and drought affect 169 countries, about 1.5 billion people and about 25% of the world’s land area. Experts claim that desertification and drought may force 50 million people to migrate within 10 years.
For these reasons, it has become one of the most important tasks of the whole world to effectively combat desertification, land degradation and drought, which is a silent disaster on land resources. This issue is also of vital importance for our country due to its negative impact on the national development and progress of our country.
Since the adoption of the ‘United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’ on 17 June 1994, ‘Desertification and Drought Day’ activities are organised every year to draw attention to the importance of combating desertification in our country and in the world.
We meet 95% of our food needs from soil. In many studies, it is said that the formation process of a 50 cm of soil that can be used for agriculture takes approximately 20 thousand years. Unfortunately, we do not know the value of this value we have and we cannot protect it sufficiently.
Today, approximately 80 per cent of our 783 thousand km2 country is agricultural and forest area. As it is known, we are not a water-rich country. We live in an arid geography. According to our desertification vulnerability map, approximately one quarter of our country (22.5%) is under high risk of desertification due to its climate and topography conditions.
Topography and vegetation cover are effective in 84% of soil loss in our country. 40% of the displaced soil is agricultural soil. In addition, the Mediterranean Basin, where our country is located, is among the regions that will be most affected by climate change. For these reasons;
Efficient use of our water and soil resources,
Prevention of water and wind erosion
Put an end to faulty agricultural practices and land use
Protection of our forests
Sustainable management of natural resources,
Follow-up of the changes realised with the measures taken
It is of great importance to shift from populist policies to socialist realistic policies and to change the paradigm in the use and management of our water and soil resources.
NO SOIL AND WATER, NO LIFE!
Source: Water Policies Association (WPA),
Ankara – Türkiye
