Regional Development in Sanliurfa Province : Key Sector Analyis

The challenges facing Sanliurfa are not unique, they are the same challenges found in rural areas all around the world. Agriculture is still the most important sector in Sanliurfa, but it is generating fewer and fewer jobs. New approaches used in regional development shift from a focus on individual sectors (such as agriculture policy) to one based on a comprehensive multisectoral approach in which agriculture is conceived as one component sector of a comprehensive regional development policy. Within this framework, there are two major aims of this study. The first aim is to identify the high point sectors (key industries) by using LQ analysis in Sanliurfa province and 11 districts. On the other hand the economy of Sanliurfa, endowed with very rich arable land resources and irrigation facilities, thanks to GAP-( SouthEastern Anatolian Project), has a high potential in organic-agriculture. Accordingly the second aim of this paper is to analyze the development potentials of “clusters of agro-industries based on organic agriculture products” in the region. The findings of the analysis reveal that the key sectors identified in industry and services (food and textiles industries and retail and wholesale of food stuff) provide inputs from the main agricultural products in the region. On the other hand considering the availability of land and other facilities for organic agricultural products the findings of the study strongly supports development of “clusters of organic - agro industries” in Sanliurfa Region.