Basra vegetable seller Abu Mustafa recalls being able to get his produce from Iraqi farmers in the 1970's. But today, nearly 80 percent of the vegetables at his stall are imported from Iran. This, while most Iraqi families interviewed in Basra believe that the vegetables cultivated locally are fresher than those imported.
When The New Arab visited Basra's central market, one kilogram of Iranian tomatoes were being offered at $0.40 per kilogramme, versus $1.20 for the Iraqi ones. Local sources, however, point out that prices vary day to day, depending on the volume made available to Iraqi traders by Iranian farmers.
However, importers claim that cheap food offers consumers more purchasing power. Left with no choice, countless low-income families have resigned to buying imported food products.
According to Naeem Sabah, dean of the Department of Economy at the University of Basra, the large-scale imports of food products from neighbouring countries, mainly Iran, have led to the collapse of the economy in the city.
Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the country became largely dependent on food imports. "Basra became a consumer city. More than 90 percent of our goods are imported, mostly from Iran," says Sabah. According to the Regional Food Security Analysis Network, agricultural production dropped by another 40 percent after the invasion of the Islamic State group in 2014, making the situation even worse.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) forecasts that Iraq will be dependent on imports to meet its domestic food demand for many years to come.
