Water Sustainability of the Turkish Dairy Sector: Efficiency, Risks and Vulnerabilities

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The “Water Sustainability of the Turkish Dairy Industry: Efficiency, Risks and Vulnerabilities” project, funded within the scope of the Civil Society Dialogue (CSD-V) Grant Program between the EU and Turkey and in which the Climate Research Association is a co-beneficiary, was carried out by the Packaged Milk and Dairy Products Industrialists’ Association ( ASÜD) in partnership with the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) from the UK and the Water Footprint Network (WFN) from the Netherlands.

The overall aim of the project is to show all stakeholders in the dairy sector their role in water use, to provide a review of the water use situation and to be a driving force in researching opportunities for efficient use of water. Our project mainly aims to evaluate water risk and examine the possible effects of water risk on the value chain.

Project activities to be carried out within this framework will focus on reducing the vulnerability of the Turkish dairy sector regarding water-related risks, while information sharing will be ensured at farm and enterprise level with British and Dutch project partners. It is also aimed to create an information sharing platform on policy, incentives and legislation.

As a result of 15 months of activities and project outputs, following modules were implemented;

Field visits and researches to be carried out in the whole value chain of the current water consumption in the Turkish dairy industry (feed, livestock breeding, dairy products production and delivery to the consumer) water dependence and the milk sectors’ impact on the resources,
Evaluation and mapping of the water vulnerabilities of the dairy sector, evaluation of the sector′s impact on water resources,
Considering the best practices in EU countries and Turkey on water efficiency, legislation, policies and strategic approach, and developing policy proposals through benchmarking application in partner countries and Turkey,
Preparation of a guideline for smallholder farmers and dairy plants for assessing the water reliance and best practices to increase water efficiency in milk and dairy production.

For more detailed information about the project, you can visit https://www.wsdtr.org/tr/.