ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s Ministries of Agriculture have agreed on establishing a joint company to market local agricultural products on the condition the Region commits to border control, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The two ministries agreed to “establish an agricultural marketing company to market agricultural products and ensure their delivery to all provinces,” ministry spokesperson Hamid al-Naif told state media.
The agreements were made during a visit of Iraq’s Minister of Agriculture, Mohammed al-Khafaji, to Erbil on Monday, where he met with the Kurdistan Region’s Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Begard Talabani.
“The smooth movement of agricultural foods between all governorates” was also agreed upon between the two ministries.
The agreements, however, were made on the condition that the Kurdistan Region “commits” to controlling border crossings with other countries.
In April, Iraq’s integrity commission said Kurdistan Region’s border crossings are not abiding by government import bans on select items meant to protect farmers, resulting in foreign-grown fruit and vegetables showing up in local markets. As a result, Kurdish produce was being stopped at Iraqi checkpoints, according to Sulaimani’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Kurdish farmers said they have no market for their fruit and vegetables since Iraqi checkpoints started holding up their products.
Produce marketing has been a major issue for Iraqi and Kurdish farmers. Last year farmers threw away their produce onto the streets of Erbil in protest of their plummeting value, calling on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to help them market their produce.
Potato farmers did the same in Erbil in September, protesting illegal imports from Iran that have pushed their produce out of the market.
Iran has exported $11 billion worth of food and agricultural products to Iraq in the last five years, according to the General Manager for the Arab and African countries of Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran.
Kurdistan’s farmers have also struggled to find a market for their wheat in the past. Most rely on the Iraqi government to buy their crops, but Baghdad is not prompt in paying them. Farmers frequently stage protests when the harvest season approaches, demanding the government buy their wheat.
In a statement to state media on Tuesday, Khafaji said that a joint committee was formed between the two sides to “address any problems” they might have, and agreements were reached to unify the crop calendar and have representatives working together from both sides.
