Market studies

The general purpose of this project was to promote an effective implementation of the EU financial assistance for rural development under the Rural Development Sector Programme and prepared the Turkish Cypriot community for the future implementation of the acquis communautaire.

Crop Husbandry Project aims; to reduce significantly the amount of water applied per crop and maximise water use efficiency for fruit, vegetable and field crops to overcome scarcity and salinity of water; to improve economic viability of crops under irrigation and dry farming in order to increase farmers’ welfare; to design production system according to market needs ; to perform all the activities in an interactive way with the involvement of key partners (public and private).

Under the GAP Rural Development Programme funded by the EC, a grant of 20 million Euro was allocated for the Rural Development component of the program. This grant was disbursed to a wide rage of sub-projects to be implemented by various stakeholders in the GAP region. The implementation of various activities within the framework of the Rural Development project helped to alleviate poverty and trigger a sustainable development process in the region by: diversification of non-farm activities; creating/maintaining employment; improving the income of beneficiary farmers and rural SMEs; improved usage of production factors; reorientation of farming and rural SME activities; improving the quality of farm and agro-industry products through improved processing and marketing; promoting handicraft activities; facilitating environmentally friendly farming and agro-industrial activities, improving infrastructure connected with the development of agriculture and institutional strengthening in the region. Project activities covered nine provinces, namely Adıyaman, Batman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Kilis, Mardin, Siirt, Şanlıurfa and Şırnak.

AGRIN was involved in this project in 1999 as a joint-venture partner with Chemonics Inc. of USA. Project objectives are; (a) increase the marketing efficiency of grains and cotton through selected commodity exchanges by introducing improved systems of price discovery, dematerialized trade, and regulatory oversight; (b) demonstrate the benefits resulting from increased private commodity marketing; and (c) provide a model for development of other private exchanges, and impetus for government to withdraw from its intervention in the marketing of other commodities.

The study was carried out under the “Agro-industry Project” of Turkey. AGRIN was involved in this study together with two British Consulting firms, Mc. Alister Elliot&Ptr. And Landell Mills. One of the responsibilities of AGRIN was to carry out the local coordination for the study and to provide local consultants.