PM Masrour Barzani said the complex would not only receive farmers’ yield but could also process the crops into food.
“This guarantees the people of the Kurdistan Region that food security will be provided,” Barzani said during the ceremony, adding that similar projects will be launched in other provinces in the Region.
Agriculture is a focus of the government as the Kurdistan Region tries to diversify the economy and decrease its dependency on oil.
Preparations have been made in Duhok province to lay the foundation stone of another Wheat Marketing Project “in the next few weeks," Bergard Talabani, the KRG’s agriculture minister announced.
“The importance of this strategic agricultural project is that our farmers annually are struggling to sell their wheat, struggling with silos and the delay of their financial rights,” said Talabani.
The project is implemented at $121 million in coordination with Qaiwan Group and the public sector, and will also provide job opportunities for architects and agricultural graduates.
The Wheat Marketing Project is a large complex of silos and factories and will produce and then market food made with wheat, including bulgur, couscous, macaroni, biscuits, and instant cereal.
The first Wheat Marketing Project was launched in Erbil.
Kurdistan’s farmers have 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.
In February, Begard Talabani announced they had secured a first payment from Baghdad for wheat purchased in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Farmers frequently stage protests when the harvest season approaches, demanding the government buy their wheat.
“We need to try to help our country stand on its own feet so that we don’t need imports, not only to provide for our needs locally in Kurdistan but also to export these products abroad so that they become another (source of) income , so that we don’t only rely on one source of income,” Barzani said.
