Operations underway, but more support needed
Today FAO began delivery of seeds and fertilizer to 20,000 farmers in Ninevah, Dohuk, Erbil, and Diyala governates to support them during current winter planting season, and the Organization is supplying 7,500 herders with animal feed for the winter, thanks to funding from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
"This is an important step, but the needs are immense and we are facing a $38 million shortfall in terms of what is needed to prevent a further collapse of agriculture, " said Fadel El Zubi, FAO’s Representative in Iraq. “Thousands more farmers still need assistance. Failure to provide that help in a timely manner will have major and lasting repercussions on the agriculture sector and the food security of millions of Iraqis.”
“FAO’s call for funds is time-critical,” El Zubi stressed. The assistance will help families keep their livestock alive, protect strategic crops, promote quick-impact food production such as poultry raising and small-scale gardening, and create vital income opportunities.
FAO’s appeal is part of the 2014-2015 Strategic Response Plan for Iraq released by the United Nations last week. FAO’s total funding requirements of $53.2 million are around 28 percent met, leaving a funding gap of $38.5 million.
Most of Iraq’s wheat production takes place in the north, which has been significantly destabilized by the conflict. Nearly all of the country’s water resources flow through areas under the control of the self-described Islamic State (IS) and affiliated armed groups.
(Source: FAO)
(Picture Credit: Layth Mahdi)
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