Doğan Organic becomes a model

ISTANBUL

Doğan Holding Chair Begümhan Doğan Faralyalı.

The Doğan Organic Agriculture project in the district of Kelkit in the Black Sea province of Gümüşhane has become an exemplary model for organic sustainability.

The project should be seen as a corporate responsibility project to foster sustainable development, rather than a commercial initiative, Doğan Holding Chair Begümhan Doğan Faralyalı said, at the 18th World Organic Congress organized by the International Federation Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM), sponsored by Doğan Holding this year.

“Doğan Organic Products has become the largest organic milk producer of Turkey with all contracted farmers in just 12 years. Both Doğan Holding and the people of Kelkit are very proud of this,” she said, adding that the company was an exemplary model for others with its organizational structure.

“This project is the present of Honorary President of Doğan Holding Aydın Doğan, my father, to our homeland, Gümüşhane. The aim of Doğan Organic is to maintain sustainable development of the Kelkit area and the surrounding region. To achieve this goal, we created a pioneering organic agriculture and stockbreeding model. This model’s sustainability has now been proven, contributing to making Kelkit and the surrounding region an organic farming center,” she said.

Doğan Organic Products established an enterprise in Kelkit, where the majority of the young population used to immigrate to big cities due to the hard geographical conditions and old-fashion production habits. The enterprise first started to produce organic products and then integrated the local people into the project with contracted-farming. Some 60 employees and 100 contracted farmers produce around 12,000 tons of organic milk, produced annually from 1,400 certificated organic animals.