The contribution of agriculture in economic development: The case of Turkey

The agriculture sector is considered as a strategic sector for developed and developing countries. In the background of the agriculture sector being evaluated as a strategic sector, there is the idea that the agricultural sector contributes to the economic developments of the countries in five basic areas. The agricultural sector contributes to the economic development of the countries' economies through providing food products for the society, foreign exchange income obtained through exports, manpower for the industry, saving and capital for the industrial sector, and market contributions for the production of the industrial sector Johnston and Mellor (1961). From the establishment of the Republic of Turkey until today, there has been a decrease in the agricultural sector's share in output and employment, and the gross domestic product as a result of the structural transformation of the agricultural sector in Turkey. In this context, based on the framework constructed by Johnston and Mellor (1961), this thesis examines the contributions of the agriculture sector to the Turkish economy. Although the relative importance of the agricultural sector has decreased compared to the industry and services sector, this study evaluates the positive contributions of agriculture to the development of the country's economy such as providing the food supply for the growing population of the country, affording foreign exchange revenues obtained from the export of agricultural products, subsidizing manpower transfer from the agricultural sector to the industrial sector , and contributing the development of industrial branches based on agriculture. Keywords: Economic Development, Agriculture Sector, Turkey