This year for the first time the Potato Festival is being held in the Duhok Governorate from December 15-17, organized by the University of Duhok with support from the Dutch Consulate General in Erbil.
“Thanks to strong Dutch-KRI (Kurdistan Region of Iraq) cooperation, harvests increase and thousands of sustainable jobs are created,” the Dutch Consulate General said in a post on X.
The festival will feature displays of the region’s agricultural products and will introduce new potato varieties. Nearly 50 booths will participate, showcasing potato products as well as local and international foods, alongside a dedicated section for potato-processing industries and related companies.“
Development in the potato segment in the Kurdistan Region is actually a great example of what can be achieved if companies, knowledge institutes, and governments work together. Over the last couple of years, we have seen great improvements throughout the whole value chain, thanks to strong cooperation between the Netherlands and the Kurdistan Region,” the Dutch Consul General in Erbil Adriaan IJsselstein told Kurdistan Chronicle.
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The Netherlands has encouraged Dutch companies – particularly in agriculture – to invest in the Kurdistan Region, leading to several small and medium-sized joint projects with Kurdish firms in segment such as dairy and potatoes.
“Thanks to potato production and processing, thousands of jobs have been created in the KRI, food security has improved, and economic diversification has been supported,” Consul General IJsselstein added.
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Bashar Mushir Goran, the CEO of Kurdistan Holland Company, in an earlier interview told Kurdistan Chronicle that the expansion of potato cultivation has “created job opportunities for over 40,000 unemployed individuals.”
Moreover, these potatoes have been exported to countries like the UAE. “Kurdistan potatoes are the best potatoes in the Middle East in terms of quality,” Goran explained.
