Turkey's Animal Production Water Footprint; Heading in the Wrong Direction

Scarcity of freshwater for agricultural production is becoming an ever increasing global environmental issue and one that will impact the food security of many nations in the very near future. Turkey is one of the key agricultural production nations in the world. The OECD estimates that Turkey is the world's seventh-biggest agricultural producer. With 40% of its total land area arable, it is the world's number one producer in numerous agricultural produce, including being the biggest wheat producer in the region. However its animal production system with the exception of poultry has declined considerably over the past few decades. The country has gone from being a livestock exporter in the 1980's to a major importer of red meat and slaughter animals since 2009. Despite the reduction in it national herd size the country has still managed to increase it's animal production water footprint (WF) due to inefficient natural resource management practices. Simulations of global climate change by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with 21 different models, predicts a 12% decrease in annual rainfall in southern Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. As Turkey's annual water withdrawals are expected to exceed 20% of the annual renewable water supply, the country is likely to be at risk of suffering water stress in the next decade. Despite such grim prospects Turkey's agricultural sector is taking very few tangible water conservation measures. There is a real opportunity for Turkey to better utilize its rich water resources and become self sufficient for its animal production systems by adopting irrigated pasture improvement for grazing.