German-Turkish Cooperation – Organic Agriculture

The cooperation aims at supporting the development of the organic agriculture sector in Turkey and at promoting the export of organic products into European market. This includes raising awareness of sustainable quality assurance and communicating the required knowledge to the responsible persons in this sector, with the support of the Turkish Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Livestock. This will provide a sound basis for the sustainable development of the Turkish export market for organic products. The project is implemented in close cooperation with the umbrella association of the Ecological Agricultural Organization (ETO) in Turkey, which also manages the project office. The cooperation of all market partners from the organic agricultural sector shall be intensified and an educational training programme initiated.

Background:

Turkey is important for its production of organic foods for the EU and, in particular, for the German market. It has its own organic regulation which is extensively harmonised with EU Regulation 834/2007. Main Turkish export products in organic quality are nuts and dry fruits including raisins, apricots and figs.

However, quality issues, e.g. pesticide residues, are harming the trade relations with the effect that Turkey has not yet exhausted its large production and trade capabilities. There are still some shortcomings along the value-added chain: at the producing companies, in post-harvesting and pre-acquisition, during processing and shipment of the goods.

Objectives:

The cooperation project aims at supporting the development of the organic agriculture sector in Turkey and at promoting the export of organic products into the European market. This includes raising awareness of sustainable quality assurance and communicating the necessary knowledge to the responsible persons in this sector. This will provide a sound basis for the sustainable development of the Turkish export market for organic products.
The project is implemented in close cooperation with the Turkish project partner, the umbrella association of the Ecological Agricultural Organization (ETO) in Turkey which also manages the project office. The cooperation of all market partners from the organic agricultural sector shall be intensified and an educational training programme initiated.

Activities:

• Improving the know-how of farmers, processors, exporters, inspectors, laboratories and official authorities in terms of production guidelines, quality management and traceability
• Organisation of events and knowledge transfer activities with participants from all trade levels
• Set-up of a network of demonstration farms throughout Turkey
• Organisation of technical workshops
• Developing and offering a training course for agricultural extension workers
• Optimisation and strengthening of the cooperation between Turkish and German market partners and their respective authorities
• Promotion of frequent, transnational consultations
• Facilitation of a multi-stakeholder dialogue

Funded by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Germany

• Ekolojik Tarim Organizasyonu Derneği (ETO)
• ARGE FiBL Projekte GmbH

• Huber Beate (Vice-chairwoman of the Management Board; Department of International Cooperation)
• Liebl Boris (FiBL Germany)

• Alföldi Thomas (Department of Extension, Training & Communication)
• Bernet Thomas (Department of International Cooperation)
• Klaiss Matthias (Department of Soil Sciences)
• Leopold Jochen (FiBL Germany)
• Mäder Rolf (FiBL Germany)
• Speiser Bernhard (Department of Crop Sciences)
• van den Berge Paul (Department of International Cooperation)

• Advisory tools (Department of Extension, Training & Communication, FiBL Switzerland)
• Knowledge transfer (FiBL Germany)