KRG promises to invest in agricultural sector, support market for local farmers

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Minister of Agriculture, Begard Talabani, on Wednesday promised local farmers the government would defend their products and market their products. 

Talabani delivered her statement following a large workshop held in Erbil, which touched upon investing in different areas of the autonomous region’s agricultural sector.

The minister told reporters that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was currently engaged in drafting a plan to boost the region’s agricultural sector, finding proper mechanisms to market local produce, attract investment, and protect homegrown production from imports.

Her comments came days after several videos circulating on Kurdish social media networks showed local farmers disappointingly dumping tons of their inventory — tomatoes, cucumbers, etc — because of aggressively low market prices that barely cover the cost of production. 

“We hope farmers are not discouraged, and we are all affected by the sight of their hard work being wasted. We want to tell them that we have begun preparing a plan and a program to put more significance on their products in terms of marketing and in the food industry,” Talabani told reporters.

She added that the plan would yield results in the coming year.

The Ministry of Agriculture has been in contact with foreign consulates and representative offices in the Kurdistan Region to attract foreign investments and develop the sector into one of the main pillars of the region’s economy, the minister told Kurdistan 24 on Monday.

The Kurdistan Region’s geography offers arable lands and ample agricultural opportunities, according to local economists.  

Farmers in the past few years have repeatedly called on the KRG to block the flow of foreign products that are already produced or grown at home into the Kurdistan Region, and argue they are capable of fulfilling the needs of the domestic demand.

Editing by Nadia Riva