Developing Sustainable Agriculture Strategies – Turkish Floriculture Case

Abstract

While Floriculture maintains its importance for many countries and cultures with its commercial possibilities, global players had to differentiate their approach to the industry because of the shift of the production towards developing countries and the change in competitive dynamics. Turkey’s slow progress in Floriculture and the inefficacy to use its potential presents a unique opportunity to develop a sustainability-oriented strategy to differentiate Turkey from its competitors. Hence, this work focuses on Turkish floriculture industry dynamics and aims to propose sustainable strategies using a Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM)-based model. A comprehensive Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats (SWOT) analysis highlighting Turkish Floriculture’s current state is used for that purpose. The economic, environmental, and socio-political dimensions of sustainability in the floriculture industry are also considered via an Analytical Network Process (ANP) model. The analysis results are used to define a sustainable floriculture strategy with its benefits-opportunities and costs-risks (BOCR) merits. Based on the findings, the economic dimension of sustainability takes precedence over the other two dimensions, and an efficient floriculture strategy needs to focus on logistics and marketing in a developing country like Turkey.