An Economic Livestock Activity: Leather Industry

Abstract

Livestock activities, which hold an important place in the production economy of Turkey, are usually considered to comprise only meat and milk production and rawhide manufacturing is overlooked. However, as a result of the developed countries’ diminishing interest in the manu-facturing industry resulting from various causes, leather industry in Turkey is gaining importance. Although the raw material requirement of the leather industry can be largely met by the country’s own resources, the lack of organization and awareness reduces the profit of breeders in this market. As a consequence of the relatively more prevalent sheep and goat breeding in Turkey in comparison to the cattle breeding, the leather industry mostly relies on sheep and goat breeding. In this sector dominated by extensive breeding, establishing adequate organization and awareness will lead to the economic utilization of leather as well as meat and increased yields in the livestock breeding. This study aimed to present the current state of the leather trade in Turkey and increase its importance in the livestock breeding activities.