Main reasons of rural poverty after 1980s ın Turkey ?

The 1980s is an important period for the introduction of neoliberal policies into agriculture. In this period, the support policies applied to agriculture were abolished. In 1984, taxes and duties on imported food products were reduced and an increase in the volume of food imports was observed. After a while, the policies continued and the following General Directorates were abolished in the Ministry of Agriculture: Agricultural Affairs, Agricultural Control, Livestock Development, Food Affairs, Veterinary Affairs and Fisheries. As a result, the ministry’s jurisdiction has been limited. The goal here was to reduce the role of the state in the economy. One of the most important changes was the step of privatization of dairy institute, meat and fish establishment and feed. As a result of these, it was observed that the income from agricultural production decreased to half of that obtained from products within 10 years. Another development that took place in the context of the entry of global retail and production monopolies into Turkish agriculture on an international scale in the 90s was the spread of contract agriculture. however, the general characteristics of contract farming, which began in the 90s, had changed. First, the practice was greatly expanded to include fruit, vegetables, tobacco, seeds, durum wheat, wine grapes and malting barley and flowers. Thus, this spillover also serves as an indicator of ‘the diminishing impact of support policies on farmers’ incomes’. In the 70s it was reduced to focusing on improving the living standards of farmers, but that changed with the era of neoliberalism. An important plan in the government’s agricultural policy was to reduce (permit) the number of people engaged in farming. Considering the relevant numbers, there was also an absolute decrease. It suffered an absolute loss of more than a quarter of its agricultural workforce, or about two million jobs. That is, there was no place for the peasant-farmer (small landowner) in neoliberalism. After 1983, Turgut Özal became the head of the state and the decisions of January 24 began to be followed. Small producers, those engaged in agriculture, experienced great difficulties after the state cut its support for agriculture, and they needed the support of the state to live in the countryside. In this period, both the support to agricultural producers was cut and the taxes on the products coming from abroad were reduced, and the cheap imported goods in the market increased. This situation caused the peasants to become even poorer. A new one was added to the changes made in agriculture in 1985. Supports to animals were limited, for example veterinary support, feed support was removed or limited. Everything that rural production needed was being removed one by one. This was a serious choice made by the government, and there was no reason left for people not to leave the villages. Migration had begun due to reasons such as not meeting the needs of the state and the fact that their income was no longer sufficient to continue their lives. However, the main source of economy of the state was agriculture and this has changed rapidly over the years. People in the village became unemployed and began to look for different areas where they could find work. No alternative was offered to this unemployed population. Deepening migration, the number of people impoverished, the population of hopelessly poor and unemployed peasants increased. In the first stage, small producers started to sell their lands to large producers. Basically, they represent people who are in perpetual poverty, that is, have few assets and survive by selling their labor as herdsmen (usually by grazing sheep and taking them to market for sale). This category can be considered to represent a subclass in Turkish agriculture. The small producer, who had to diversify their income, started to work on the land of the big producer and started to look for seasonal jobs.