The supermarketization and the rise of private agri-food governance: GAP certification in Antalya

Abstract

This study examines the rise of supermarket-driven private agri-food governance and its effects on agricultural producers in Turkey. The neoliberal restructuring of Turkish agriculture operates through private food standards and third-party certification schemes driven by supermarkets. In this respect, supermarketization and third-party GlobalGAP (ITU) certification are two parallel processes transforming the agricultural production and rural livelihoods in Turkey. This study examines these processes through an analysis of supermarket expansion, facilitative legal regulations, government subsidy policies and their overall effects on fresh fruit and vegetable (FFV) producers in Antalya. The main argument is that supermarket-driven third-party certification has differentiating impacts of different scales on agricultural producers. It also argues that the social differentiating mechanisms of third-party ITU certification work through and as the result of changing agricultural policies in Turkey. This study is based on field research and in-depth interviews with agricultural producers, agri-food companies, government officials, Migros’s Mediterranean region procurement center officers and engineers, agricultural cooperatives and third-party certification body auditors and certifiers in the Serik, Muratpaşa, Finike and Demre districts of Antalya. Apart from that, government statistics, agricultural law and regulation texts have been sources for this study.