On the root causes of unbearable food inflation

People living in our cities cannot access sufficient food because there are extraordinary increases in food prices.

Food prices have seen a 29.7 percent annual increase compared to April 2020.

In April 2025, compared to April of the previous year, there was a 24.1 percent increase in the prices of bread, flour, bulgur, and pasta; a 16.5 percent increase in meat and fish prices; and a 34.4 percent increase in the prices of milk, dairy products, and eggs.

Oil prices rose by 38.4 percent, fruit prices by 20.4 percent, and vegetable prices by 54.8 percent. Pulse prices increased by 30.1 percent over the last year, while other food prices rose by 15.8 percent.

Why are food prices rising? If you wish, let us list the root causes that some of us may not be sufficiently aware of:

FARMERS ARE AGING AND DISCONNECTING FROM AGRICULTURE

According to the Union of Turkish Chambers of Agriculture:

Our population working in the agricultural sector is getting older every year.

As of 2024, the average age of our farmers has risen to 59. The average age is 58 for men and 61 for women.

The proportion of our young farmers between the ages of 18 and 32 is only 5 percent. This situation shows that our youth are rapidly moving away from agricultural production and rural life.

Our rural population is decreasing every year due to limited economic, social, and educational opportunities.

Young people of marriageable age have started to prefer working for minimum wage in cities over farming in their villages.

Over the last decade, more than two million people have left agriculture and migrated to cities.

THERE IS COST-PUSH INFLATION IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

The prices of agricultural inputs are constantly increasing.

Diesel prices have increased by 105 percent in the last year. Diesel is being hiked every day during harvest time.

Since March 2023, fertilizer prices have risen by rates ranging between 20 and 35 percent.

Agricultural pesticides increased by 56.6 percent, and electricity by 2.1 percent.

There was a 43.7 percent increase in livestock feed prices and a 44.8 percent increase in dairy feed.

Not only is the diesel and fertilizer support provided to farmers insufficient, but costs have also risen due to excessive increases in agricultural chemicals and electricity.

In contrast, the announced base prices have not been sufficient. Moreover, the prices of the products produced by farmers are falling every day.

AGRICULTURAL STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES (SOEs) HAVE BEEN PRIVATIZED

Agricultural SOEs, which were tasked with protecting farmers to a certain extent against domestic and foreign monopolies, have been privatized.

For example: SEK, YEMSAN, TÜGSAŞ, İGSAŞ, TEKEL, KHGM, and TZDK were liquidated through privatization.

The Agricultural Credit Cooperatives (TKK) were granted autonomy. The State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) was transformed into an organization with a special budget. The Meat and Fish Institution (EBK) was turned into the Meat and Milk Board (ESK) and rendered dysfunctional.

The Turkish Grain Board (TMO) was distanced from its function. Ziraat Bank entered the privatization process. Some of the Agricultural Enterprises (TİGEM) were sold off.

ÇAYKUR was placed into the privatization process.

WEAKNESS HAS BECOME DOMINANT IN THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF FARMERS

The technical and economic spheres of influence of organizations were pitted against each other, and unnecessary friction was created.

The effectiveness of these organizations in shaping economic policy remained quite limited.

The share of cooperatives in economic organization has fallen significantly. This weakness has condemned producers to the dominance of foreign and domestic monopolies.

FARMERS HAVE BEEN RENDERED DYSFUNCTIONAL IN MARKETING CHANNELS

Since farmers are unorganized in terms of economic structure, a large number of intermediaries have come to dominate the market.

Producer organizations deliver the products they process to consumers through intermediaries.

The prices received by producers have declined in real terms.

Only about half of the price paid by the consumer is transferred to the producer.

AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES HAVE BEEN INSUFFICIENT AND FAILED TO REACH THE TARGET AUDIENCE

The 1 percent agricultural support commitment in the Agriculture Law was not fulfilled.

Support prices were kept below production costs.

While the share allocated from the national income to agricultural subsidies in Turkey was 0.8 percent in 2005, this rate fell to 0.2 percent (91.5 billion TL) in 2024.

Most of us do not know that this rate is 20 percent in the European Union, where the liberal economy dominates, 12 percent in the USA, and 9 percent in Canada.

Moreover, insufficient subsidies were directed toward company-based giant agricultural enterprises instead of small and medium-sized enterprises based on family labor.

And the Result

Due to reasons such as agricultural production not increasing in line with the growing population,

Producers being condemned to the dominance of foreign and domestic monopolies in production and marketing,

The emergence of price instability in food, and the wages of workers and retirees remaining far below inflation;

UNBEARABLE FOOD INFLATION HAS EMERGED.