{"id":2502,"date":"2017-11-26T17:03:46","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T17:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cooperativeeconomy.info\/?p=2502"},"modified":"2026-02-23T09:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T09:21:10","slug":"will-syrias-kurds-succeed-at-self-sufficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/will-syrias-kurds-succeed-at-self-sufficiency\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Syria’s Kurds Succeed at Self-sufficiency?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GAZIANTEP \u2014 Most Syrian cities are reeling under the effects of the ongoing civil war, which has naturally\u00a0dealt a blow<\/a>\u00a0to the local and national\u00a0economies.\u00a0Amid the conflict,\u00a0the\u00a0Kurdish-controlled areas<\/a>\u00a0of Jazira, Kobani<\/a> and Afrin\u00a0in the north\u00a0are\u00a0attempting to become\u00a0economically self-sufficient<\/a>, but receiving goods, including raw\u00a0materials and medicines,\u00a0from inside Syria\u00a0is a\u00a0struggle.\u00a0Traders control the market entirely, deciding on\u00a0shipments and\u00a0setting\u00a0prices at will, which has resulted to high prices.\u00a0Also, border crossings with Turkey have been\u00a0closed\u00a0since 2012, because Ankara accuses\u00a0the Kurdish\u00a0Democratic Union Party<\/a>\u00a0(PYD), which administers the Syrian Kurdish areas, of being\u00a0affiliated\u00a0with the Kurdistan Workers\u00a0Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kurds have been in control of some areas in Hasakah<\/a> province\u00a0and Kobani<\/a> and Afrin<\/a> in the\u00a0Aleppo<\/a>\u00a0countryside\u00a0since 2012, after the forces of President\u00a0Bashar al-Assad<\/a>\u00a0abandoned most of their positions and stations there. Subsequently, the Kurds established\u00a0popular councils in a move toward political\u00a0autonomy and\u00a0economic\u00a0development<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hamou, deputy head of the Economic Body, the equivalent of a\u00a0Ministry of Economy\u00a0under\u00a0the democratic autonomous administration in Syrian Kurdistan, told Al-Monitor that the Kurdish areas\u00a0rely on goods, including\u00a0vegetables, medicines and relief items, delivered through the\u00a0Simalka border crossing<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0Iraqi Kurdistan. Hamou said that these items are considered\u00a0relief goods\u00a0because their importation is not officially approved by both Baghdad and Damascus. The government in Baghdad is, however, facilitating their entry.\u00a0Hamou noted that the lack of\u00a0sea\u00a0access\u00a0is a \u201cdrawback,\u201d stating,\u00a0\u201cThe absence of a sea outlet or a port affiliated with the Kurdish region of Rojava<\/a> is exacerbating the blockade on the\u00a0region, especially since Turkey is preventing the entry of goods to the area because of the PYD\u2019s control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2014, the Syrian Kurds established autonomous rule<\/a> for the territory they control, with Kurdish, Arab and Christian areas all taking part. According to Hamou, the Trade, Economy, Oil Resources<\/a> and Customs Bodies contribute to the salaries of some 3,700 employees. \u201cThe bodies revenues amount to 175 million Syrian liras [$350,000] per year, and they form part of the autonomous administration’s budget,\u201d Hamou said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamou said that autonomous rule has encouraged investment by traders from the region as well as those displaced to it to create an economic structure and increase the areas’ revenues. The democratic autonomous administration has also put money into implementing a corn oil project and cheese and dairy operations as well as wheat and flour mills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasakah province was once considered Syria’s bread basket, given the abundance of wheat and cotton<\/a> grown there. Production of both has decreased in recent years because of fighting between Kurdish and Islamic State forces<\/a> and the resulting migration of residents from the area. According to farmer Mohammed Khalil, Jazira\u2019s wheat output previously had reached some 1.8 million tons a year, but in the last year did not surpass half a million tons<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamou attributed this decline to the reduced agricultural season due to the reluctance of farmers to risk investing during wartime, the lack of basic materials including compost and high costs. Fertilizer and seeds were imports before the war, and with quantities now low, prices have spiked. Also, diesel and electricity are not always available because of the war. \u201cThe regime is still buying wheat from farmers [in Hasaka] in order to provide flour and bread to other provinces,\u201d Hamou said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked how goods are flowing in Kurdish and other areas as the war drags on, Hamou said that they are being moved through \u201cwar brokers,\u201d also called \u201cwar traders.\u201d One of the officials in charge of the Simalka crossing to the Syrian side told Al-Monitor, \u201cThe crossing prioritizes the entry of basic foods, in addition to vegetables and energy drinks. Sheep are also being exported to the Iraqi Kurdistan region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahmed Yousef, head of the Economic\u00a0Body and chairman of Afrin University<\/a>, claimed that\u00a0the\u00a0Kurdish-controlled areas’\u00a0economic\u00a0output, which includes agriculture, industry and oil, accounts for about 55% of Syria’s gross domestic product.\u00a0Jazira\u2019s agriculture<\/a>\u00a0accounts for 17% of Syrian\u00a0production. \u201cIn a bid to secure our initial needs, we have come to develop plans adapted to\u00a0the [realities of the] war, so we have used the resources of our area, especially agricultural ones,\u201d Yousef said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One big challenge for the Kurds is that goods from abroad are usually priced in foreign currencies, which are high compared to the Syrian lira. Yousef noted, \u201cThis leads to higher prices. Added to this is the lack of some essential items, such as medicines, sugar and rice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Syrian Kurds\u00a0held a conference<\/a>\u00a0in Afrin last October, followed by another\u00a0conference\u00a0that month in Rmelan<\/a> with the aim of\u00a0developing an economic plan<\/a>\u00a0for the Kurdish areas.\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0two conferences<\/a>\u00a0discussed agriculture, trade, electricity and the development of an advanced program aimed at easing the blockade\u00a0and developing an agricultural [plan],\u201d said Yousef.\u00a0\u201cThe plan contributed to moving about 50% of the industrial factories and workshops from the destroyed city of Aleppo to Afrin, and\u00a0the [Kurdish authority] is securing the needs of those workshops and providing\u00a0shipping companies, which total\u00a020 in Afrin.\u201d Yousef also said there is a plan to\u00a0establish an industrial zone for traders in Afrin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kurdish areas experience sporadic shortages<\/a>. In April, tomatoes were scarce and their price soared. At the beginning of the year, no sugar was to be found. As a result, on April 19, the customs administration in Jazira province scrapped the tariffs<\/a> imposed on food entering the Kurdish areas to encourage the entry of more products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about Afrin’s ability to become self-sufficient, overcome the economic blockade and serve as a model for the other Kurdish areas, Yousef said that the idea dates back to 2012, when a group of Kurdish traders and industrialists in Aleppo formed the Producers Union in Syria\u2019s Western Kurdistan<\/a>. That step was followed by the establishment in April 2014 of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry<\/a> in Afrin, which includes about 300 traders and industrialists. In 2014, the Council of Investment Management<\/a> was established by the democratic autonomous administration, according to Yousef, \u201cto organize work in Afrin and approve the implementation<\/a> of several projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yousef pointed to the production of 32 tons of laurel soap<\/a> and its exportation to Syrian cities and Turkey as one of the economic successes of autonomous rule in Afrin, in addition to this is the garment industry. \u201cTwo million pairs of jeans are produced<\/a> per month and exported across Syria,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the major difficulties for the autonomous administration is providing reliable power. The Kurdish regions have been plagued by power outages<\/a> for three years now, resulting in reliance on generators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GAZIANTEP \u2014 Most Syrian cities are reeling under the effects of the ongoing civil war, which has naturally\u00a0dealt a blow\u00a0to the local and national\u00a0economies.\u00a0Amid the conflict,\u00a0the\u00a0Kurdish-controlled areas\u00a0of Jazira, Kobani and Afrin\u00a0in the north\u00a0are\u00a0attempting to become\u00a0economically self-sufficient, but receiving goods, including raw\u00a0materials and medicines,\u00a0from inside Syria\u00a0is a\u00a0struggle.\u00a0Traders control the market entirely, deciding on\u00a0shipments and\u00a0setting\u00a0prices at will,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[387],"class_list":["post-2502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-afrin-university"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"This report by Sardar Mlla Drwish first appeared on Al Monitor<\/a>, 3 May, 2016","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2502"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14355,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions\/14355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}