Food consumption and food insecurity have always been prevalent in the US, and growing up, I had many friends who struggled with food insecurity. This has shown me that a lot of the cheapest and most readily available food for those who struggle with insecurity food is unhealthy and overly processed food that contains many chemicals that are extremely unhealthy to make into a diet. Across the US, countless families suffer from food insecurity, but the government has helped provide many outlets for people to receive the food they need. This includes food pantries through foundations like the Red Cross, and many cities have their own foundations that provide food for the residents. In many other countries, the food insecurity and poverty levels are extremely high. Many of their governments have not instated any means to help fix these levels because of the economic issues. One region, South Asia, has become the most recent hotspot with the largest population that is being severely affected by the lack of access to healthy food. Roughly 1.4 billion people in this region cannot afford the cheapest health. Many other economic problems coincide with the poverty levels, such as the rise in petrol prices, making travel more expensive and challenging for locals. 

https://asiatimes.com/2023/12/south-asia-leads-the-world-in-food-insecurity/#:~:text=Misguided%20priorities%20combined%20with%20short,cheapest%2C%20locally%20available%20healthy%20meal.

As a way for those in the Region of Kurdistan to move past the trauma and horrors it has experienced in the past, it has been through opening new hiking trails. This has slowly brought more tourism into the region, positively helping the economy grow. The Zagros Mountain Trail is the latest addition; it is 215km long and crosses through 35 different communities in the Kurdistan Iraqi Region. Many visitors have had concerns about the safety of passing through the Region of Kurdistan, as the UK and US State Department have advised against traveling to Iraq due to safety issues, but the creators of the trail have ensured the safety of all travelers passing through. Many homestays and local guides along the trail allow the safety and housing of those traveling through the region on the path. This has shown the positive side of history while giving acknowledgment to those who suffered traveling out of the region during the genocide in the 1980s.

“Kurdistan Opens up an Incredible 200 Km Trekking Route.” Lonely Planet, 13 June 2023, www.lonelyplanet.com/news/zagros-hiking-trail-kurdistan.

Genocide swept across the region of Kurdistan. In the 1980s, the Anfal operation in Iraq was sent on a mission to exterminate the Kurds. This led to around 100,000 Kurds were reported to have been murdered. The Anfal operation led to countless Kurds being murdered in so many ways. This genocide came into the media in the 1980s, but the genocide has been occurring ever since the 1960s when women, children, and men began to disappear. This stands out because many children who went through this genocide are now adults and remember the horrors. I have a family friend who had to flee the region with her family as a teenager, and she remembers the refugee camps they had to stay in along the way. And how she witnessed her father fall into insanity due to the atrocities that occurred. This is why it stands out to me because this is exactly what the Jewish people went through while the Nazis were on a mission to exterminate them. The Kurds now use the word Anful to remember the horrible events that happened and the people that were lost during these attacks and in the countless concentration camps many of them were sent to.

Anfal Campaign and Kurdish Genocide – Department of Information Technology, KRG, us.gov.krd/en/issues/anfal-campaign-and-kurdish-genocide/. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023.

On October 22nd, two Iraqi soldiers and two Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were killed during a violent attack in a northern mountainous area between both sides. The Iraqi and Kurdish security reported this. The Iraqi Prime Minister and the commander-in-chief of armed forces, Mohammed al-Sudani ordered a high-level investigation into the violent matter. This is very important to both parties involved because violence between the two groups has not occurred since 2017.

This was caused when Iraqi government forces issued a surprise attack in retaliation to gain an independent referendum, which the Kurdish Regional Government organized. This recent attack occurred on Sunday because the Peshmerga fighters were a part of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which is the ruling party in the Iraqi Kurdish Region. The fighters were attempting to regain their positions, which they had previously evacuated near Makhmour on Saturday. This regaining of positions caused the clash between the two groups, which lasted for around two hours when both group’s leaders sought to relieve the tensions. Before this clash, the Iraqi army and Peshmerga fighters reported that two Iraqi soldiers and one Peshmerga fighter were killed. There have been minor updates on the resolution to this violence. However, the Iraqi Army still has control over the mountainous region and those positions the Peshmerga fighters had attempted to regain control of.

Rasheed, Ahmed. “Four Killed in Clashes between Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga, Security Sources Say.” Edited by John Stonestreet and Josie Kao, Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 22 Oct. 2023, www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/two-killed-clashes-between-iraqi-army-kurdish-peshmerga-security-sources-2023-10-22/.

Oil, gasoline, and petrol prices are on the rise continuously. This causes many issues for people all around the world. But what about the countries that are providing the crude oil? The countries that use the various pipelines worldwide must deal with many political issues that cause huge issues when transporting this oil. Kurdistan is one of these crude oil producers, but recently, they have fallen into setbacks with Baghdad. The pipeline has halted the transports since March, and this has caused over $6 billion worth of losses to the Kurdish and Iraqi governments. Many of these losses have been blamed on Turkey, refusing oil flow through the pipeline for months. However, Ankara officials have stated that the pipeline underwent much-needed reinforcement from previous earthquakes. Throughout all these disputes, the President of the Kurdistan region, President Barzani, stated, “We need a new agreement and understanding with the PUK to progress our nation forward,” he said. Kurdistan has been dealing with internal issues, mainly between the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party).’ “We have to figure out how to work together,” Barzani stressed. “We were able to achieve a lot of successes together, and in case of deterioration, all Kurds and all of Iraq will suffer.”’ The discussion on the crude oil pipeline allowed for the discussion of implementing a true federal system in Iraq, which would benefit the entire country. Iraq has been seeking ways to better its economy, as Iraq passed a budget bill for the next three years, and the Kurdish Region’s share is 12.6 percent. After this was passed, the budget issues have not been resolved as the blame continues on Baghdad for not sending the proper funds to pay the civil servants of the Kurdistan Region.

To conclude President Barzani’s discussion on the economic issues the region has been undergoing, he also discussed how many countries use the region as a war launchpad. “This problem must be resolved through dialogue. This is not a problem that we can resolve militarily. It is a type of issue that has to be resolved politically,” Barzani stated after the issue between Turkey and the PKK (Kurdistan’s Workers Party). The PKK has gone against the region’s beliefs as it is a terrorist group that has engaged in many shootouts and attacks in the Kurdistan Region and Syria. There have been many war and weapons agreements between many countries in this region, including Baghdad and Tehran, to help eliminate these attacks. In conclusion, the Kurdistan Region is undergoing many internal and external issues that have begun with the issues with the crude oil pipeline.

“Kurdish Crude Oil Exports Resumption Depends on Iraq, Says President Barzani.” Rudaw.Net, www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/101020234. Accessed 15 Oct. 2023.