The Outlook of Administrative Problems in the Livestock Sector in Turkey

Abstract

The livestock sector is of strategic importance in Turkey in terms of food security, employment, and economic sustainability. However, the sector has been facing multidimensional problems of a structural, institutional, and administrative nature for many years. While, studies on livestock farming in the literature mainly focus on technical efficiency, cost increases, and support policies, the sector's public administration dimension, administrative structure, and institutional capacity are addressed to a limited extent. This study aims to examine the problems arising in the livestock sector in Turkey at the central administration level and to reveal the structural sources of administrative weaknesses.

The study adopted a qualitative approach. Legal regulations related to the agricultural sector, institutional documents of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, audit reports of the Court of Accounts, and reports of the Special Expertise Commission on Development Plans were examined using document analysis techniques. The study focuses on the administrative structure of the livestock sector at the central government level. In doing so, the duties, authorities, and operations of the central organization of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and its affiliated, related, and associated institutions are analyzed.

The policy documents and secondary sources examined suggest that the problems observed in the livestock sector cannot be explained solely by technical production factors; rather, deficiencies in administrative structure and institutional coordination appear to form a decisive background. Neoliberal policies adopted especially after 1980 weakened the state's role as a producer and market regulator in the livestock sector, resulting in a fragmented and unstable structure in support, control, and planning mechanisms. The narrowing of the state's tools for intervention in the sector during this process has limited its capacity to develop long-term and comprehensive policies for the livestock sector.

Achieving lasting improvement in the livestock sector depends on the state carrying out its planning, regulation, and supervision functions within a comprehensive policy framework rather than through fragmented interventions. Eliminating the fragmentation in the institutional structure and restructuring public intervention with a strategic perspective will contribute to overcoming the administrative problems in the sector. In this context, the study aims to provide an analytical basis for assessments aimed at strengthening administrative capacity in the livestock sector.