The Importance of Developing the Vegetable Market

Given the current circumstances, domestic production is struggling, and imported fruits have lost 50% of their shelf life!! In Kuwait’s modern history, all state facilities—including electricity, transportation, and countless other services—have been developed. and following the economic crisis, the stock market was established to serve as the foundation for securities trading. The creation of the market was a response to the economic crises and chaos that paralyzed the national economy on more than one occasion, and the existence of the current market ensures that the mistakes and risks affecting the national economy are not repeated. However, despite this tangible development across all sectors, two facilities crucial to consumers’ daily lives have not been developed: the vegetable market and the slaughterhouses. Our focus in this study is the vegetable market. As for the vegetable market, its situation is the same as it was during the “Al-Fardah” era in Kuwait City; the Kuwait Municipality is responsible for supervision, sanitation, space organization, facility planning, and market maintenance. There have been several attempts to improve the market’s situation, including an executive visit by the mayor and members of the municipal council in early summer 1984 to inspect wholesale markets in Paris, Amsterdam, and Tunis, as well as the decisions, laws, and proposals put forward from time to time to develop the market. However, there have been no tangible results for the consumer. All that has happened over the past 30 years is the relocation of a group of beneficiaries from one place to another for the benefit of one individual or another, while local consumers have simply come to accept the current situation. as imported goods are half-packed with weeds, leaves, and newspapers, and some fruits lose 50% of their shelf life before reaching the market. Additionally, there are variations in size and quality within a single package. The Kuwaiti saying, “Those on top say ‘Hala Hala,’ and only God knows what’s below,” has become a motto to follow when shopping at the market. As for the suppression of local production, it goes without saying that it is not in the interest of the group of merchants and distributors to distribute local produce, as they are tied to foreign suppliers with whom they deal on a known and fixed commission basis. The time has come for a realistic pause to study the past and plan for the future in order to achieve the goals of agricultural marketing, which aims to serve the public interest, andI propose that the Kuwait Municipality, as the entity directly responsible for the vegetable market, establish a Vegetable and Fruit Marketing Council as an independent body under the Cabinet, comprising: the Kuwait Municipality, the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries, the Farmers’ Union, and the Union of Agricultural Consumer Cooperative Societies. The responsibility of this council shall be to study the wholesale market on the basis of an “exchange” open to all local and imported fruits and vegetables, and the Fruit and Vegetable Market “Exchange” shall be responsible for receiving and offering the goods for sale (through an open public auction based on specifications, quality, and quantity). The fruit and vegetable market shall establish the specifications that must be adhered to for both local and imported produce, ensuring that the market is directly linked with exporters wishing to sell on commission and importers, and prohibiting the sale of fruits and vegetables outside the market. It is also important that wholesale traders be registered with the market; they are the only ones permitted to enter the market and purchase at auction, and the market must be equipped with cold storage facilities for the preservation and distribution of products.