THE ROLE OF A CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DOMESTIC ORGANIC MARKET IN TURKEY

Abstract

In this paper, we report of a case from Turkey where a civil society organization took an active role in development of a functioning domestic market for organic agriculture and organic products by not only influencing laws, regulations and their implementation, but also establishing and administering marketplaces solely for organic products. Although the country’s climate and biodiversity is suitable for organic agriculture, the domestic market remained underdeveloped; the organic sector was directed mainly towards exports. By establishing the first marketplace solely for certified organic products in 2006, a non-governmental organization became the locomotive of the domestic sector. The process that led to the 100% Ecological Marketplaces exhibits a contingent characteristic where particularly social and symbolic capital were mobilized by the NGO to facilitate embedded relationships of trust among a multiplicity of actors, together with a framing of positive ‘ecological living’ discourse and therefore contributing to the ‘organic’ movement.