Potato Processing Factory Inauguration Ceremony
The foundation stone of a potato processing facility was laid in Duhok province by Kurdistan Region (KRI) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Dutch Ambassador to Iraq, Michel Rentenaar. This project is part of an initiative to create sustainable jobs and support domestic production of goods.
The event was attended by a number of ministers from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), as well as general consulate of the Netherlands and Dutch diplomats in Erbil.
The goal of this projecdt is to meet the demand for locally-produced and processed potato products through further development and completion of the ''Potato Value Chain''. The project aims to achieve an increased and more resilient income for farmers and a sustainable, locally-sources value chain, that supplies the regional market and contributes to local economic development. It will add a food processing component and potato chip factory to this value chain for the first time in KRI.
Through the Sustainable Development Goals Partnership facility the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs aims to support Public Private Partnerships (PPP) that contribute to innovative solutions for issues related to food security and sustainable entrepreneurship in developing countries. The project funding is provided by the Sustainable Development Goals Partnership (SDGP-P) of the Netherlands enterprise agency, on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with 50% co-funding from Kurdistan- Holland Company (K. H) in the Kurdistan region.
The facility, the first of its kind in Iraq, will directly reach 8,000 farmers through capacity building activities on good agricultural practices, and create 160 sustainable jobs at the potato cold storages and processing factory. The factory will be capable of producing 6,000 tons of french fries each year as well provide 10,000 job opportunities for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) with access to seasonal work on potato farms.
