Climate Crisis and Agricultural Water Management: The Political Economy of Sustainability And Food Security in Türkiye

This study examines agricultural water use in Turkey within the context of the climate crisis, arguing that the water crisis is not merely a problem of environmental scarcity but a multi-layered political-economic challenge shaped by production structures, incentive mechanisms, and development priorities. Designed as a conceptual and analytical review, the study systematically draws on secondary data from DSI, FAO, OECD, IPCC, and relevant ministries, interpreting them through a political economy theoretical framework. Findings indicate that approximately 75–77% of Turkey’s total freshwater withdrawals are allocated to agricultural irrigation (DSI, 2023; FAO, 2021), a pattern deeply rooted in the historical and institutional entrenchment of water-intensive crop systems. Declining groundwater levels, sinkhole formations, and ecological disruptions in the Konya Closed Basin, Gediz, and the Büyük Menderes Basin signal that the crisis has entered a structurally irreversible phase (DSI, 2022; MTA, 2023). The persistent rise in total water consumption despite advances in irrigation technology is explained through the Jevons paradox, while the subordination of water efficiency criteria in agricultural support policies is analyzed against the ecological economics literature (OECD, 2020; Daly, 1996). The study further demonstrates that the water crisis has grave consequences for food security, manifesting as rising production costs, price volatility, and deepening access barriers for vulnerable groups (IPES-Food, 2021; FAO, 2008). Resolving the agricultural water crisis demands far more than technical efficiency gains; it requires a holistic restructuring of crop patterns, incentive regimes, basin-based governance, and food policy frameworks.