Begard Talabani, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources in Iraqi Kurdistan, November 2019. Photo: Talabani’s FB
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Begard Talabani has said that investment in the Kurdish Region’s agricultural sector is being neglected.
“We are working on amending a number of instructions specific to investment in the agriculture sector so as to raise the rate,” Talabani said on Friday, adding that the ministry has presented several proposals to the Council of Ministers.
“Only 1.6 of the total investment [in the Region] is in agriculture and that rate is not pleasing,” she noted.
Thirty investment projects in agriculture were launched between 2006 and 2019 in the Kurdistan Region, according to the Board of Investment.
While Kurdistan has large areas of rain-fed, arable land, much of it is under-used or is farmed using outdated techniques and equipment. The current government has said that it wants to increase agricultural output.
This summer, the FAO said that was focused on improving agriculture in northern Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region. In May, it opened a new office in Sulaimani.
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