"The month of fasting" in Iraq: soaring prices, irate citizens, and an "offline" ministry

Shafaq News/ The markets in Iraq have been warming up for the month of fasting with the pricetags of the Iftar food, such as lentils, rice, vegetable oil, skyrocketing.

According to wholesalers and importers, the rise ranged from 15% to 20%. This rise also includes domestically grown fruits and vegetables, particularly tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, and eggplants, while okra has been on the rise since the start of the season.

Near-empty wholesale markets

"Unfortunately, the prices are high on the first days of Ramadan," Mohammed Salah, a vegetable vendor in Baghdad's Karrada area, told Shafaq News agency.

Saleh said that the wholesale market of vegetables and fruits (locally known as the Alwa) in Jameela and al-Doura areas have almost no products on its shelves.

"As soon as a truck enters the Alwa, the greengrocers rush to buy its load, prompting the farmer to double the price."

He also stated that he was hesitant to shop at first due to the high prices.

"Because of the high prices of vegetables, fewer shoppers are buying less than they used to."

"Vegetable crops can only be stored for one day. It may be a huge loss."

Unjustified price tags for homegrown products

"This Ramadan will be very expensive for my five-member family," Mohammed Hussein, a taxi driver, said.

"The rise of vegetable prices in the first few days of Ramadan is unjustified because they are grown locally," he said, surprised by the government's silence and the lack of market control.

Om Ahmed, a housewife, said she used to buy vegetables and fruits from a shop near her house, but "overnight, the price of vegetables doubled. The only reason for that is Ramadan."

"These increases do not commensurate with citizens' incomes, particularly large families, who, in addition to securing food, have other financial obligations such as rents, payments to private generators, and other day-to-day matters."

Faulty consumption patterns

"The faulty consumption pattern of buying heavily at a specific time increases demand for no objective reason, raising, thus, the price at the beginning of Ramadan every year," economist Dhurgham Mohammed Ali explained.

"The citizens must adopt a consumer culture that promotes market balance and eliminates unjustified price surges," he said.

"The legalization of seasonal agricultural products import has placed pressure on supply due to the irrational increase in demand."

Shafaq News agency has contacted the Ministry of Agriculture to convey the citizens' questions about the soaring prices. However, it did not respond to our reporter's correspondences.

Like many other countries, Iraq was affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine due to its dependence on the warring countries' agricultural products. If the war continues, the food security of Iraq will remain threatened, because the country cannot grow enough wheat, corn, barley, and rice, due to the water crisis after Iran and Turkey cut off water, increased desertification and decreased the proportion of arable land