SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region– At the Sulaimani market, where a large section is dedicated to groceries, little of the array of fruits and vegetables on display is grown locally in the Kurdistan Region.
Grocers say most of the produce comes from neighboring countries, and shoppers complain they would like to see more local goods.
Afran, a 32-year-old greengrocer, says he has no alternative but to rely on imported vegetables. Pointing at the various products in his shop, he estimates that only about a quarter of the produce he sells is grown locally, with the rest imported from Turkey, Iran, and other parts of Iraq.
“I would love to buy my stock locally, but there is too little on offer, and the market is not as efficient. It is much easier for me to have the supplies imported," he explains, adding he prefers buying from other parts of Iraq, where quality and price are both good.
Some of Afran’s friends outside the city are farmers, but he says that they prefer to focus on livestock rather than agriculture.
"To most of my friends the margins are too low with agriculture, especially due to seasonal work; sheep and chicken can be sold year round, so it is easier," he notes.
Ashna, a mother of four who shops at the market regularly, says that she enquires about the fruit and vegetables and tries to buy local produce as much as possible. "I do it to please my husband, who works with the ministry of agriculture and says it is better to buy local goods,” she explains. “But I don't really care. Tomatoes from Iran taste just the same."
The majority of shoppers agree, saying they care more about quality and price than the origin of goods.
"It is because of this attitude that we do not develop local production. People just don't care," complains Felat, who tries to provide as much local produce in his store as possible. He says that is not easy to do.
"People don't realize the importance of buying Kurdish products; that it is the only way to develop this sector of our economy," the 56-year-old explains.
He welcomes the initiatives by the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources to ban some foreign products in order to boost local production. Over the past two years, the ministry has placed temporary import bans on several agricultural products, such as sunflower seeds, watermelons, eggplants and melons.
"It is a start," says Felat, "But it is not enough. This is not the right measure to take: The ministry thinks it can ban imports, but that is naive, because people can always turn to smuggling vegetables, it is easy.”
Afran believes that the government is not taking the right measures either. "Banning imports is a negative step. What they should do is take positive action, by offering incentives and rewards to local producers. Forbidding melons to enter the country is a joke!"
As far as meat is concerned, however, local production appears to equal demand. According to Hawar, 43, who runs a butchery in the market, all restaurants and kebab joints are pleased with the quality of local meat, which is plentiful due to the large number of livestock farmers.
But the more high-end restaurants are not as easy to please. "They expect a better quality of meat: If they want beef I understand, because that is not the main production here. But I just don't get why they would import lamb and chicken. It is all because of snob value, I think," Hawar concludes.
But the owner of a franchised US restaurant says that his business is not allowed to purchase local meat because it does not necessarily meet international health standards. "I wouldn't mind buying local, but I want to be sure that the meat is as good as the one they serve in the US. The franchise supervisors would never agree for us to buy the meat from the market," he says, asking that his business not be identified.
"What we need in Kurdistan are the instruments to test the quality of the meat,” he notes. “Let us use local meat if it passes the tests.”
