Many Kurdish poultry farmers report a loss of business owing to falling demand for chicken in protest-hit areas of Iraq and the impact of cheaper frozen imports from other countries.
According to the poultry farmers who spoke to Rudaw, they are making a loss of around 400 dinars per kilogram of chicken they sell.
“Due to Iraq’s protests, demand on chicken has dropped, so owners of projects have to sell their chickens in the Kurdistan Region’s markets. And due to the abundant supply of chicken, the price has dropped massively in the last two months,” Heidar Farhan, head of Association of Poultry Farm Industry in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw.
According to data from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resource, the Region is home to 1,527 licensed poultry projects. Some 493 of these are based in Erbil, 288 in Duhok, 602 in Sulaimani, 114 in Garmiyan, and 20 in Halabja.
Around 80 percent of these projects are currently operational, producing around 129,000 tons of chicken annually. There are an additional 500 unlicensed poultry farms producing around 36,000 tons. Combined, around 165,000 tons of chicken is being produced in the Kurdistan Region annually.
The Ministry of Agriculture estimates individuals consume roughly 23.9 kilograms of chicken annually. With the population expected to rise beyond six million by the end of the year, the Region requires 144,000 tons of chicken to meet this demand. The Region therefore has a surplus and does not need to import more chicken to meet demand.
If the protests continue to disrupt the Iraq market, many Kurdish poultry farms might be forced to close down, Farhan warned.
Poultry farmers complained to the Minister of Agriculture, who has promised to establish the Supreme Council of the Poultry Industry.
Farhan, who was delegated to speak to the minister, asked for a limit to be placed on the import of frozen chicken, and for restaurants, hospitals, Peshmerga barracks, and prisons to be forced to buy locally produced chicken.
Despite its self-sufficiency, the Kurdistan Region imports frozen chicken from Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia, Brazil, America, France, The Netherlands, and several other countries.
According to the Quarantine Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, between 70,000 and 85,000 tons of chicken is imported each year.
Farhan also asked for strict conditions to be placed on the opening of new poultry farms, which risk further saturating the market.
If their demands are met, Farhan said the famers would acquiesce to KRG price controls.
“The aim of establishing this Council is to protect domestic products and develop them to an extent for us to no longer need imported chicken,” Firas Sidiq, director of the department of Animal Resources in the Ministry, told Rudaw.
Local chicken needs to be advertised differently, too, such as pushing them into the fast food industry, added Sidiq.
“For example, in Erbil, tens of tons of chicken are used as ‘Kentucky’ and others forms. That is why if the way chicken is advertised is not changed, we can’t decrease the amount of imported chicken,” he said.
Poultry farm owner Haji Saadi Salih told Rudaw he has already made losses.
“Due to lack of a market, I sold all of my chickens with much loss to Arab traders. In the first batch, I lost 5 million dinars (roughly $4,189),” Salih told Rudaw.
He has not given up, however.
“We cannot leave our profession, and our work is like gambling. One day we make profit, and one day we make losses.”
Translated by Mohammed Rwanduzy
