ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Netherlands has dedicated eight million euros to help local farmers in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq sell and diversify their produce.
The four-year program was announced in the Kurdistan Region on July 28, and will help farmers market their products at home and abroad.
The project is implemented by ECO Consult, a Jordanian development group, in partnership with Dutch horticulture knowledge and consultancy company Delphy. It is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, according to a statement from ECO Consult.
“The project will help increase the resilience of market systems and strengthen knowledge among farmers about efficient and sustainable horticulture management,” read the statement.
Farmers in the Kurdistan Region have suffered from the ongoing economic crisis and coronavirus pandemic, which have sent the value of their goods plummeting.
In Erbil, peppers and cherry tomatoes will be planted on 1,000 square meter land. In Duhok, 100 green houses will be prepared for planting strawberries, and in Sulaimani, 100 green houses will be prepared for planting lettuce, cabbage and cauliflower.
Bashar Mushir Agha is a horticultural investor in Dohuk and one of the project beneficiaries.
“More than 25 farmers will benefit from this project and it will also create opportunities for the graduates of agricultural colleges,” he told Rudaw.
“The Netherlands is the second biggest agricultural exporter in the world. We are pleased to work with Iraq to strengthen this important sector, which will be critical to help the country diversify its economy away from oil,” Consul-General in Erbil Willem Cosijn said at the launch event.
He later told Rudaw that they want to teach local farmers the best ways to produce and market their products.
“We will teach them the best way to make a product that everybody wants to have,” he said.
The consul general also said that they will teach the farmers “how to produce it correctly, sustainable for the biggest harvest.”
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