Socio-Economic Aspects of Goat Farming in Arid Environments. The Example of Turkey

Abstract

Livestock is important in supporting the livelihoods of farmers, consumers, traders and laborers in developed but particularly in developing world. Recently, the international community recognizes the importance of livestock in terms of poverty reduction and economic opportunities. Despite its potential importance to sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction, livestock sector development has received limited attention from the international organizations and national governments in recent decades. On the other hand, some research have showed that goat production plays a crucial role in the lives of large number of people in the Mediterranean region. Thus, goat rearing is an essential element of their farming system. In some countries like Turkey, rural women carry out a primary role in goat production. However, women’s productive work has been ignored and underestimated. Goat production can play an important role in improving rural livelihoods. Commercialization, another important aspect related to goat productions, should be improved to achieve a higher profitability of smallholder production systems. In this chapter, the social and economic aspects as well as gender issues involved in the goat production in Turkey, as an example of a typical arid environments, are described.