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SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - Farmers working the agricultural lands of Sulaimani province’s Penjwen town are worried about the lack of demand for their produce as local consumers opt for imported products.
Mohammad Awara, 66, from the Kurdish city of Mariwan in western Iran (Rojhelat), is a father of 10 and has worked in Penjwen town for five years. He says he works for 11 hours daily for 30,000 Iraqi dinars ($23) but is grateful as this is more than he would earn at home.
“We earn 30,000 Iraqi dinars, which costs us a million Iranian rial, and It is enough for our expenses," Awara told Rudaw’s Sazgar Salah on Friday.
Saman Najmadin, who is the supervisor of the farmers and responsible for recruitment, says that a high number of farmers come to the town of Penjwen to find a job in the agricultural industry.
However, despite the availability of farming jobs, produce consumption remains an issue. Farmers have called for a halt in the imports of agricultural products from outside the Kurdistan Region in order to encourage the purchase of local goods.
Pashtiwan Mohammad, a farmer in Penjwen town, said “In a season from ripening to harvesting, there are very good job opportunities in Penjwen town, not only for workers but also for shopkeepers and Iranian workers who come to the town."
“Every year, when the crops are ripe, we have issues with consuming the product," he added.
According to the statistics of the Penjwen Agriculture Directorate, there are around 47,000 dunams of land planted with summer crops in the town.
Based on figures from the trade ministry, 48 percent of food items are imported from Turkey, 17 percent from Iran, and 35 percent are supplied domestically and through some other countries.
Kurdish farmers have on numerous occasions trampled their own agricultural products in protest over low prices, protesting the presence of banned imports that pushed their produce out of the market.
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