Kurdistan PM and Iraqi minister talk Erbil-Baghdad agricultural cooperation

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday received Iraq’s Minister of Agriculture, Mohammed Karim al-Khafaji.

Barzani and Khafaji discussed ways to enhance cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad, especially on agricultural trade between the Kurdistan Region and central and southern Iraq, a statement from the premier's office said.

They also discussed the issue of the federal government's annually determined limit on wheat Baghdad accepts from Kurdistan Region's farmers, the statement added, noting that the cap does not exist for the rest of Iraq.

The two officials also touched upon Baghdad providing quality accreditation for agricultural products from the Kurdistan Region.

Earlier this month, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced plans to support the growth of greenhouses, to develop infrastructure on farming and other food-production, and increase tariffs charged on imported agricultural goods as part of efforts to make the Kurdistan Region more self-sustainable. 

Read More: Kurdistan Region to boost agriculture for increased self-sustainability

Aside from the obvious economic advantages of boosting local agriculture, it also is a key prerequisite to becoming as “food independent” as possible, an issue that has emerged in the minds of many after seeing the effects of both the coronavirus and shortages that resulted from embargoes Baghdad imposed on the autonomous region after its independence referendum of late 2017.

Over the past few years, farmers in the Kurdistan Region have called on the KRG to block the significant flow of foreign products that are already produced or grown domestically, lowering market prices to the point where it is difficult to make a living.

Editing by Khrush Najari