Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Türkiye has taken extensive precautions to shield its food security and agricultural production from the effects of regional conflicts, climate risks, and global crises.
Speaking at the World Farmers’ Day programme in Ankara on Tuesday, Erdogan said Türkiye has successfully protected both national stability and food supply through a “balanced foreign policy.”
“While protecting our country and nation from the ring of fire surrounding us through our balanced foreign policy, we also managed to ensure the food security of our 86 million citizens without any disruption,” he said.
Erdogan said Ankara has remained vigilant since the outbreak of conflicts affecting Iran and Gulf countries to ensure that agricultural production is not negatively impacted.
“We have been on alert since day one to ensure that the deepening conflicts in Iran and our brotherly Gulf countries do not affect our agricultural production,” he said.
“In agriculture, we had already secured fertiliser and fertiliser raw material supplies. Our fertiliser stocks are at sufficient levels,” he added.
The Turkish president said water stress, climate change, pandemics, wars, and armed conflicts have reinforced the strategic importance of food supply security worldwide, while the concept of “food nationalism” has increasingly gained prominence globally.
“As Türkiye, we took our precautions beforehand against all these developments. We made our planning based on the reality that ‘whoever holds the key to the granary holds the power,’” Erdogan said.
He said Türkiye currently faces no food security issues thanks to agricultural planning and support policies implemented by the government.
“Thanks to the practices we have implemented, especially production planning, we currently do not have a food supply problem,” Erdogan said, adding that new regulations and support mechanisms are also being introduced to prevent future risks.
The president noted that rainfall levels have remained favourable since the beginning of the year, reservoirs are filling up, and there are no irrigation-related concerns.
“After a decline in crop production last year due to agricultural frost and drought events, our plant production will hopefully rise again this year,” he said.
Türkiye’s agricultural output
Erdogan also highlighted Türkiye’s agricultural output, saying the country ranks third globally in vegetable production and fourth in fruit production, while placing among the world’s top three producers in 21 crop categories.
He added that Türkiye exports seeds to 117 countries and ranks among the world’s top 10 countries in the seed sector.
The president also announced a new financing and rural development initiative backed by the World Bank under the Türkiye Agrifood Sector Transformation for Jobs and Rural Prosperity Project.
The programme will provide financing support to agricultural and food sector investors for up to 80 percent of investment costs, with repayment terms of up to seven years and financing of up to $10 million, depending on project size.
“We will provide our businesses with financing opportunities of up to $10 million, with a grace period of 24 months and maturities of up to seven years,” Erdogan said.
He said the first tranche of the planned $5.3 billion financing package would make $750 million available to entrepreneurs in 2026.
Erdogan added that a separate mechanism involving Türkiye’s Credit Guarantee Fund would create a credit volume of approximately $500 million for primary producers facing difficulties in accessing loans.
“Thus, we will create new marketing channels for 400,000 farmers and generate new employment opportunities for 250,000 citizens,” he said.
