We Support the Earthquake-affected Area Through Agricultural Product processing! The Project on Enhancement of Competitiveness in Agro-Industry is Launched

On 22 and 31 May 2024, the kick-off meeting of the Project on Enhancement of Competitiveness in Agro-Industry (Technical Cooperation for Development Planning) was held online and at the General Directorate of Development Agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Technology in Ankara.
This project aims to increase the added value and variety of agricultural products by creating strategic plans and pilot projects for the agricultural industry in 12 provinces, namely Adıyaman, Bingöl, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Şanlıurfa and Tunceli, including the provinces which were affected by the February 2023 earthquakes. Thus, it is aimed to contribute to the development of the competitiveness of the region in the agricultural industry. The Project will be implemented in cooperation with Eastern Mediterranean Development Agency, Fırat Development Agency, Karacadağ Development Agency and Silkroad Development Agency.

The region, which is the target of the project, has a high development potential, especially in the agricultural sector, due to its proximity to the markets in the Middle East and Central Asian countries as well as highly fertile soils. Türkiye has put massive effort in the development of the region with large-scale infrastructure development projects within the scope of the Southeastern Anatolia Development Project (GAP) since the 1970s. With the construction of the country's largest dam, irrigation facilities and highways, the region has developed and the agricultural production and logistics environment has been improved.

Although the quality of the main agricultural products such as pistachio, grape, olive, wheat, cotton produced in the region is high, most of the products are sold to Istanbul and other large domestic consumption areas or abroad without being processed, which limits the increase in the income of the producers and the development of the region.
In order to benefit from the high potential of the region and to reinforce its competitiveness, the development and stable production of high value-added products that benefit from the characteristics of the region is necessary from the perspective of regional development.

On February 6, 2023, two earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6, the epicenter of which were Kahramanmaraş occurred in southeastern Turkey, and a total of 11 provinces, including the Southeastern Anatolia region, were affected. According to the Türkiye Recovery and Reconstruction Assessment, as of March 2023, the death toll is approximately 48,000, the number of injured is approximately 126,000, while thousands of casualties and 3.3 million people have been displaced. Nearly 2 million people have been replaced into tents and temporary container cities in disaster-affected areas, and by 2024, more than a year after the disaster, many people still live in temporary shelters, mostly in container cities. In the agricultural sector; in addition to the destruction of the barns, equipment in livestock, storage facilities, logistics facilities, etc. agricultural processing facilities and irrigation facilities were also damaged.

Development Agencies carry out various studies such as product and problem analysis, research on the potential of the region and market in order to strategically promote the increase of the added value and competitiveness of agricultural products. It is planned to create regional strategies that will increase high added-value and competitiveness through various analysis, support initiatives by partnering with SMEs and carry out pilot projects within the scope of this project.

In these activities, Japan's experience in high value-added agricultural products, regional branding and supporting the restructuring of disaster areas will be conveyed and it is aimed to contribute to the revival of the agricultural industry in rural areas in Türkiye based on regional branding methods based on successful examples of municipalities in Japan.