KRG aims to become a food basket for Iraq and the region

Erbil, Kurdistan Region (GOV.KRD) - Prime Minister Masrour Barzani reaffirms the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) support for local farmers, stating that the KRG aims to become a food basket for Iraq and the wider region.

The KRG launched its project of exporting organic Kurdish pomegranates abroad last month and the produce arrived in supermarkets across the Gulf region on Saturday. The KRG aims to export other products including grapes, figs, and honey in the long-term future.

“We need to help and support our farmers from the start so they can further develop the agriculture sector and turn their agricultural products into a source of income not only for themselves but for the government and the Kurdistan Region,” Prime Minister Barzani said.

KRG’s Ninth Cabinet adopted a policy to collect local farmers’ products for domestic use and to export them abroad in order to increase agricultural production in the Kurdistan Region and build a stronger and more diverse economic infrastructure.

“Our policy is to diversify income, one of which is agriculture. There are other sectors as well which we have also paid attention to, but agriculture is the basis of creating a strong economy for each country. We have rich lands that have not been adequately utilized. The development of the agriculture sector will help develop other sectors,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister also urged foreign investors to invest in developing the agricultural sector of the Kurdistan Region. ‘The secret to a successful Kurdistan is to advance its agriculture sector. I am very pleased that farmers are looking at this national treasure differently now, and I’m inviting foriegn investors to invest in our agricultural sector.’