DARBANDIKHAN, Kurdistan Region - The Rojen Autumn Festival, an event that promotes local produce and handmade goods, took place in the town of Darbandikhan this weekend.
Traditional Kurdish foods, handmade crafts, paintings and a variety of sweets were displayed during the one-day festival, which came at a time when Kurdish farmers are struggling to market their products.
“I have been doing this job for a long time,” said Runak Mohammed, who sells her handmade crafts at the festival. “We were doing very well three years ago, we had a good market and I had plenty of customers,” she said. “Now, the market is slow. Fewer customers buy from us.”
The festival provided market opportunities to at least 93 vendors, including local farmers and craftspeople, from across the Sulaimani region, a report said.
Daban Ismael, the head of a group of Sulaimani craftswomen, said the festival has provided jobs for a number of women.
“More than 80 women making handmade crafts, including some who have special needs or others fallen on hard times, have come to the festival selling their products,” she said.
In early September, farmers in eastern Sulaimani province led protests in accusation of the government for failing to secure a market for them as cheap, illegal imports left them unable to compete each year. Produce from southern Iraqi provinces can be imported into the Region without restriction, but Kurdish traders say they must pay to pass through checkpoints in order to send their fruit and vegetables to Iraqi provinces.
