Ordu
25% of world's hazelnuts from steep Black Sea slopes—80% of provincial economy depends on a crop whose geography may be shifting as climate change moves productive zones southward.
Ordu exists because hazelnuts grow on Black Sea slopes. This coastal province produces 25% of the world's hazelnut crop—Turkey collectively supplies 75%—making a single agricultural product responsible for 80% of the provincial economy. Four hundred thousand producers across Ordu and neighboring Giresun tend orchards on steep terrain that suits almost nothing else as profitably. The nut defines employment patterns, export earnings, and vulnerability.
The concentration creates sensitivity to price and climate. In 2014, one kilogram of hazelnuts purchased fifteen kilograms of fertilizer; by 2024, the ratio had collapsed to 3:1 while the Turkish Grain Board held purchase prices unchanged at $3.80/kg for consecutive years. Climate change compounds the squeeze: Düzce University research documents yield declines across the traditional Black Sea hazelnut belt even as production shifts to Sakarya and Düzce provinces. The orchards that built Ordu's identity may be migrating away from it.
Infrastructure investments attempt diversification. The Ordu-Giresun Airport—opened in 2015 on an artificial island in the Black Sea, Europe's first offshore airport—connects the coast to tourism markets. The Boztepe cable car since 2012 lifts visitors to panoramic views 550 meters above the city. Anchovy fishing adds a secondary extraction industry. But hazelnuts remain dominant: when yields drop or prices stagnate, the province feels it immediately.
By 2026, Ordu tests whether monoculture economies can adapt when their crop's geography shifts. The ferrero-grade hazelnuts that supply confectionery giants may increasingly come from different coordinates—leaving Ordu's steep slopes to find alternative value.