As American sanctions are hindering Iran’s economy, the country is increasingly looking to potatoes as a cost-effective alternative to the traditional imports that have fed many Iranians. In 2017, Iran imported 1.2 million tons of rice, 1.3 million tons of barley and 9.5 million tons of corn, but several top agribusinesses have since stopped selling to the country for fear of violating US sanctions.
Amid growing worries over food shortages, the Iranian government is doubling down on production of potatoes to ensure that the carb-rich vegetable is available to the masses, as it seeks to beat back the threat of social unrest because of the economic crisis. Iran has increased its potato production by more than 20 percent since 2009, when it grew 4.1 million tons. It has consistently produced 5 million tons of potatoes since 2015, making the potato a reliable go-to food for the regime in this moment of crisis.
Several provinces — Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Hamadan, Khorasan and West Azerbaijan — saw an increase in production last year. In July, Iran’s deputy agriculture minister said the country’s farmers are expected to produce 5.1 million tons of potatoes this year — despite a flood that decimated large parts of the country’s farmland, including more than 265,000 ha in the province of Golestan alone. Had the flooding not occurred, Iran would have been looking at a record yield.
Potato exports
Iran’s exports of potatoes rose 12 percent from 2017 to 2018, driving a spike in food prices within the country and rendering even potatoes too expensive for many. “Iranian merchants can make far more money selling potatoes to Iraq than in Iran,” Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, a professor of economics at Virginia Tech and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution told.
That’s why the ban on the export of potatoes became critical for the government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. And so far it’s working at keeping potato prices under control. Even with a doubling of prices in July, a kilo of potatoes costs only $0.70 in Iran, compared to around $2.55 per kilo in the United States. “They are relatively affordable and feed everyone,” says Sina Azodi, an adviser at Gulf State Analytics. “Iranian officials want to make sure that the market does not face a shortage of potatoes because it may create more dissent if the prices go higher.”
