Achilles’ Heel of Agriculture Sector

Supplying cheap food to urban consumers has been the dominant paradigm of policymaking in Iran, which has neglected rural producers, says Hamed Najafi-Alamdarlou, a faculty member of Tarbiat Modares University. 
What follows is a translation of his write-up for the Persian-language economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad:
Iran’s dependency on the import of agricultural essential goods in recent decades has led to the allocation of huge sums of foreign currency reserves to these imports. On the other hand, the lack of optimization of resources and price control have increased the appeal for imports and reduced local farmers’ contribution to meeting local food needs.