Turkey’s agricultural sector gets $50m boost from Opec Fund

Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

The Opec Fund for International Development (Opec Fund) has extended a $50 million loan to Turkey to support its agricultural and food production sectors in 11 cities severely impacted by earthquakes in February 2023. 

The Development and Investment Bank of Turkey (TKYB) will lend the funds to small and medium-sized enterprises to promote a more resilient and sustainable agriculture sector, UAE’s state-run Wam news agency reported.

Opec Fund president Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said that the agricultural sector is Turkey’s primary source of economic activity, employment and trade. 

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The funding will promote the long-term sustainability of the sector and bolster agribusinesses in the earthquake-affected provinces, he added. 

İbrahim Öztop, general manager of TKYB, said that the collaboration with the Opec Fund will contribute to the rapid recovery of Turkey’s earthquake-hit regions and support the development of the agriculture and food production sectors.

The “Food Security and Resilience Project” is co-financed with the Islamic Development Bank and the Islamic Trade Finance Corporation.

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It aims to extend financing to companies prioritising the south-eastern provinces of Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Şanlıurfa.

The region accounts for nearly 15 percent of the country’s agricultural GDP. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the earthquake damage will affect more than 20 percent of Ankara’s agri-food exports.

The project will provide funds to businesses to recover and increase resilience in the food sector to withstand future shocks, including natural disasters and climate change.