Despite the rapid development of Organic Agriculture in EU and other countries, the overall rate of growth in Turkey has been relatively slow. For the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) properly to fulfil its leading role as the competent authority, there is an urgent need to strengthen itself nationwide, in order to be able to effectively implement legislation and to update it as necessary, particularly in view of EU accession.

WYG International experts are providing technical assistance to the MARA for the sustainable development of organic agriculture, particularly focusing on the alignment of legislation and practices with EU requirements, the promotion, supervision and control of the production and processing of organic food and non-food products, the implementation of an EU certification system and training activities. More specifically, the technical assistance team are providing assistance in the following:

• Alignment of Turkish Organic Agriculture Legislation with EU legislation – current Turkish organic legislation will be assessed, gaps identified and action plans developed;
• Strengthening the capacity of the MARA as regards the supervision, control, promotion and extension of organic farming in line with EU practices – this will be achieved through extensive capacity building, institutional strengthening and training activities, including trainer training in order to ensure sustainability of project outputs following completion of the programme;
• Implementation of an efficient inspection and certification system in accordance with EU requirements;
• Collection and dissemination of organic farming information to farmers and thus contribute to food quality and environmental protection.