Farmers face labor shortage, look at rising produce prices

Farmers face labor shortage, look at rising produce prices

By Nawara Fattahova

Kuwaiti farmers say they are facing problems that can also affect consumers including ones that could lead to price rises in fruits and vegetables. Farmer Yousef Al-Kreibani told the Kuwait Times that one of the biggest problems that all farmers are facing now is a labor shortage.

"Due to the pandemic, we don't have enough workers to do the job as we can't replace those who left. Some workers went on vacation and couldn't return, while the contracts of others finished and they wanted to return home, as they usually stay for three years only. Now we can't replace them as no foreigners are allowed to enter the country to work since last year,“ he said.

"Half of my workers left last year (about 50 out of 100). Most of them left to their country, while few just left the farm. I usually hired 20 to 30 workers every year, which didn't happen this year. This huge shortage of manpower resulted in the farm not being fully planted, which reduced my production,“ he added.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in late February 2020, Kuwait has severely limited the numbers of expatriates who could come into the country. It has stopped