Opportunities of Income Diversification and Alleviating Poverty in the Rural Area of Turkey

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Poverty is a multi-dimensional and serious problem in rural area of Turkey. This paper investigates income diversification opportunities in the Agean Region of rural Turkey, its contribution to poverty alleviation. The assessments in the study are based on data gathered through a survey carried out in the Aegean Region of Turkey. A total of 386 farmers were interviewed in 48 villages situated in 12 districts. Before analyzing the data obtained in the field work, the farms were grouped according to income. Grouping was made in line with the definitions of hunger and poverty used by TurkStat, the Statistics Institute of Turkey, in its annual poverty report. Thus, four income groups were defined for the farms interviewed in the study: $0-192 (1.group), $193-385 (2.group), $386- 577 (3.group), and over $577 (4. group). The researched villages had present and potential physical, human, natural, ground and underground, agricultural and non-agricultural resources, but the findings also showed that; those resources are being used inefficiently.

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Rural poverty , rural poverty alleviation , rural income , rural income diversification

The Journal Of Ege University Faculty Of Agriculture

286

The Journal Of Ege University Faculty Of Agriculture