Importance of Rural Women as Part of the Population in Turkey

Abstract

Turkey has a total land potential of 78 million ha with a population about 74 million. About one third of the land is arable, and 26% of the population has lived in rural areas. The active population, work in the rural area of Turkey, is 14,767,000 and women have about 51% of that population. The population of women working in agriculture has shown an increase from year to year. In that regard, importance of women in agricultural activities and rural development is very clear. In agricultural enterprises, the individuals are comprised from 54% men and 46% women whose main work is agricultural activities and female economically active population in agriculture is about 55% in Turkey. The Social Gender Inequality Index, SGII, can be used to make some recommendations for policy makers. SGII is still at a high rate of 0.366 in Turkey. In present paper, some secondary data such as reports and statistical data were analyzed about the contributions of women labor uses in agriculture.