ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The ministry of agriculture plans to enhance its sponsorship of domestic production in Kurdistan after last year’s notable rise in farming revenues with over $1 billion in returns.
The ministry says due to financial crisis over the past years, they have come up with new five-year-plans that are both “realistic” and “necessary.”
“The new five-year-plan should be completed in 2019 and we have already asked for $3,3 billion from the government to sponsor it,” said Anwar Umar at the ministry and added last years investments had offered around 45 percent in profits.
According to the ministry 2,847 trillion dinars (around $2,3 billion) were invested in agriculture in 2015, which gave farmers 1,157 trillion (about $964 million) in revenues.
Umar said the overall profit is “significant” as it has offered some 153,000 farmers a stable income last year amid the ongoing economic downturn.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has said it will invest in both domestic production and its fragile private sector in a country where almost half of the adult population are dependent on government salaries. The KRG has currently over 1.3 million employees on its pay list.
“The agriculture sector has now around 10 percent of the GDP, but with the government’s support we are confident it could be risen to over 30 percent,” Umar said referring to the ministry’s five-year plan.
The ministry has taken extraordinary measures to promote domestic production in severe competition with foreign goods with largely lower prices.
Karim said a range of different measures is on the table to help local farming to yield bigger crop and larger employment.
“If we have the budget that we asked from the government, we will provide our farmers with the seeds that they desperately need as well as guidance and new techniques which boost both the quantity and the prices at the same time,” he said.
Less than 4 percent of the KRG budget has over the past years been earmarked for agriculture while international standards demand much higher allocations, around 10 percent.
“The KRG could guarantee food production in Kurdistan in three steps,” said Sabah Sabir a professor in administration and economics at Salahadin University who believed a protectionist policy was necessary to safeguard domestic manufacture.
The ministry says due to financial crisis over the past years, they have come up with new five-year-plans that are both “realistic” and “necessary.”
“The new five-year-plan should be completed in 2019 and we have already asked for $3,3 billion from the government to sponsor it,” said Anwar Umar at the ministry and added last years investments had offered around 45 percent in profits.
According to the ministry 2,847 trillion dinars (around $2,3 billion) were invested in agriculture in 2015, which gave farmers 1,157 trillion (about $964 million) in revenues.
Umar said the overall profit is “significant” as it has offered some 153,000 farmers a stable income last year amid the ongoing economic downturn.
The data shows that the median revenue for each Kurdish farmer exceeded 7.5 million dinars (ca. $6,000) in 2013, or roughly 625,000 dinars (ca. $520) a month.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has said it will invest in both domestic production and its fragile private sector in a country where almost half of the adult population are dependent on government salaries. The KRG has currently over 1.3 million employees on its pay list.
“The agriculture sector has now around 10 percent of the GDP, but with the government’s support we are confident it could be risen to over 30 percent,” Umar said referring to the ministry’s five-year plan.
The ministry has taken extraordinary measures to promote domestic production in severe competition with foreign goods with largely lower prices.
“We have pasted a picture of the border gate customs on most imported goods to make sure that local buyers know they are purchasing foreign products,” said Hussein Hama Karim a general manager at ministry.
“Our farmers cannot compete with imported goods in terms of prices and the quantity and that is something we want to change,” Hama Karim added.
Karim said a range of different measures is on the table to help local farming to yield bigger crop and larger employment.
“If we have the budget that we asked from the government, we will provide our farmers with the seeds that they desperately need as well as guidance and new techniques which boost both the quantity and the prices at the same time,” he said.
Less than 4 percent of the KRG budget has over the past years been earmarked for agriculture while international standards demand much higher allocations, around 10 percent.
“The KRG could guarantee food production in Kurdistan in three steps,” said Sabah Sabir a professor in administration and economics at Salahadin University who believed a protectionist policy was necessary to safeguard domestic manufacture.
“Tariffs on imported goods, increase of employment in the sector and preventing the revenues to leave the country,” he said.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment