Agricultural policies in Turkey in the context of global problems

Agriculture has always been of strategic importance since the beginning of human settlement. The role of agriculture in the production of basic foodstuffs is one of the main determinants of this situation. However, today, global problems such as climate change, pandemics, wars and the growing world population have triggered a transformation in agricultural policies and this transformation, which has started worldwide, has made agriculture an important area of power struggles. This study is a qualitative research and document analysis method was used as the research method. Within the scope of the research, statistical data obtained from official institutions such as TurkStat and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry were examined, as well as reports published by international organizations such as the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In addition, published research and review works, printed and visual media news and postgraduate theses on the subject were also evaluated. Care was taken to ensure that the data were obtained from up-to-date and reliable sources and were relevant to the research topic, and the data obtained were systematically analyzed in line with the principles of qualitative analysis. Assuming that agriculture is a strategic power, the main purpose of the research is to analyze the shortcomings of current agricultural policies to ensure agricultural independence, to reveal the shortcomings in current policies and to make recommendations to policy makers in the construction of sustainable agricultural policies that will ensure agricultural independence in the future. Based on the aforementioned main objective, the study analyzes agricultural policies in the context of global problems and reveals why and how agriculture is a strategic power. The study also examined the historical development of Turkey's agricultural policies and identified the current structural problems and made recommendations on the policies that need to be implemented. As a result of the study, it was determined that global problems such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War have negatively affected agriculture, leading to the spread of protectionist policies in agriculture and leading to the acceptance of agriculture as a strategic power. In addition, it has been determined that countries that are dependent on foreign agricultural exports are affected by global problems much more than other countries, serious food security problems are experienced in these countries, social uprisings and political instability occur due to problems in access to food. On the other hand, countries that are self-sufficient in agriculture are less affected by global crises and disasters and sometimes use their agricultural capacity as an element of power in international relations. The Republic of Turkey, which is considered to be an agricultural country, has also been affected by global crises and disasters; however, this impact has been limited. Although this is a good indicator, it has been observed that Turkey is increasingly becoming dependent on other countries for its agricultural needs due to the agricultural policies implemented over the years and the increasing number of structural problems. In order to be less affected by both the current crises and unexpected troubling situations that may arise in the future, solving the existing structural problems, developing new policies and ensuring full independence in agriculture stand out as an inevitable necessity.