Home ›› 11 Mar 2023 ›› Editorial
While the long-term effects of climate change continue, the COVID-19 epidemic, which spread at the end of 2019 and continued for almost two years, and the Ukraine-Russia war that followed, have had significant negative effects on agriculture and food security. While these negative effects were gradually decreasing across the world, Turkey was shaken by two devastating earthquakes in the middle of winter. So much so that a “level 4” alarm and an international call for help was made to tackle their effects. In response to this call, aid offers were received from 100 countries, and around 80 countries participated or contributed to the search and rescue efforts with approximately 7,000 personnel.
The first of the earthquakes occurred at 04:17 on Monday, February 6, 2023, with a magnitude of 7.7, centered in the town of Pazarcık in Kahramanmaraş province. The second earthquake occurred on the same day at 13:24, centered in the town of Elbistan of the same province, with a magnitude of 7.6 and 80.2 km from the epicenter of the first earthquake. The most important feature of these earthquakes was that they were very close to the surface at a depth of 8.6 and 7.0 km, respectively, in addition to their magnitude.
Unlike other big earthquakes that have occurred across the world, the fact that these two earthquakes occurred at a depth very close to the Earth’s surface increased their destructiveness and caused the Anatolian peninsula to shift 3 meters to the west. The many images reflected in the media in the form of massive crevices and collapses in the fields reveal the possible effects of the earthquake on agriculture.
Depending on their magnitude, earthquakes can have different effects such as delays and pauses in agricultural activities, as well as damage to production resources and difficulty in reaching them. Landslides, and cracks and breaks in agricultural lands caused by earthquakes make it difficult and even prevent the use of agricultural lands. In addition, agricultural irrigation systems, in other words agricultural structures such as irrigation channels and pipes, may be damaged. Migration due to the effects of earthquakes may also hinder agricultural production.
On the other hand, earthquakes have negative effects on crop and animal production activities as well. These may be in the form of delays or inability to carry out agricultural production activities, as well as loss of product, stored input, and livestock. Slips and collapses can make harvesting difficult or even impossible, and cause harvest losses. There may also be a shortage of feed due to the fact that the animal feeds are under the rubble. Crop and animal production processes that need energy can cause losses due to long-term power cuts and lack of fuel.
Decreases in the quantity and quality of crop and animal production, which may occur due to negative effects of earthquakes on agriculture, may increase prices. Disruptions that may occur in many stages of the food supply chain, such as transportation, storage, processing, and wholesale and retail trade, may cause loss of agricultural products and increase food prices. These developments may trigger food inflation and then general inflation.
Each of the eleven provinces affected by the earthquake has a high agricultural potential. Approximately 15 percent of the total agricultural land in Turkey, that is, 3.6 million hectares of 23.9 million hectares of total land, is located in the earthquake zone, primarily Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, and Adana. The number of registered agricultural enterprises and farmers in the earthquake area is around 270,000. The earthquake area accounts for about 20 percent of the total crop production in Turkey, and about 15 percent of Turkey’s livestock.
The eleven provinces affected by the earthquakes have 2.6 million hectares of field crops containing cereals and other crop products, representing 15.5 percent of Turkey’s crop production. Vegetable production areas in the earthquake zone amount to 15.2 percent of Turkey’s vegetable production area with 110,000 hectares. The eleven provinces in the earthquake zone produce 25 percent of Turkey’s fruit, beverages, and spices with planting areas of 930 million hectares. Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, and Adana are at the forefront in field crops, Adana and Hatay in vegetables, and Gaziantep in fruit.
On the other hand, approximately 20 percent of Turkey’s exports of agricultural and forestry products come from the earthquake zone. More than half of the agricultural exports of the earthquake region are from Gaziantep. While the eleven provinces affected by the earthquake have a rate of approximately 9 percent in Turkey’s gross domestic product, their share of the gross domestic product of the agricultural sector is 14.3 percent. These figures show that the income of the earthquake region is predominantly from agriculture.
According to the latest figures, the earthquake caused approximately 45,000 deaths, while we do not have clear figures on deaths in rural areas. It has been stated that there were significant casualties in many rural areas and villages, and this varies from one province to another. The significant loss of life in the elderly population, which is predominantly in rural areas and villages, may lead to a further decrease in the population engaged in agriculture, which is already inadequate, and to interruption of agricultural activities. Those who have lost their relatives may not be able to work efficiently for a while due to psychological difficulties. In addition to loss of life, migrations in rural areas might have occurred as a result of grievances and hardship.
The collapse of barns and other buildings besides houses in rural areas has also led to loss of livestock; damage to machinery, equipment, and tools; has reduced inputs such as seed and feed; and caused loss of quality of seed and feed. Therefore, there may be temporary problems in the use of tractors, machinery, and equipment, and regarding the adequacy of feed and seed. There may be difficulties in the supply of inputs such as diesel, fertilizer, seeds, and pesticides used in agricultural production, which will start gradually in March, and thus, there may be disruptions in crop production.
Politics Today
