By Padraig O'Hannelly.
A major new initiative to improve agriculture in Iraq has been launched by the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC).
Chaired by Dr Amet Selman, founder of AAA Holding Group, IBBC's Agritech Committee gathers interested IBBC Members and external experts to draw up a plan to dramatically improve agricultural practices throughout the country.
"The Deputy Minister for Agriculture and the General Manager for Agricultural Supplies have tasked our committee with improving the sector," Dr Selman told Iraq Business News at the launch.
Richard Cotton, Director of Business Development at AAA Holding Group, added:
"We have now formalised that promise with the Prime Minister [of Iraq] to say, we are going to bring agritech to the sector; we're going to work with the farmers and we're going to see how we can improve agriculture generally, working with the Iraq Britain Business Council, which is our umbrella organisation."
Ashley Goodall, Marketing Consultant at IBBC, also emphasised the priority this has at the top level in Iraq:
"[The Ministry of Agriculture] were keen to have a Memorandum of Understanding as soon as possible ... so it's very exciting - the urgency with which they're looking at it, the drive that seems to be coming from the government to improve agriculture, and obviously working with the private sector like Dr Amet to actually help drive this through. So it's an interesting partnership."
Taking into account the huge range of farming standards in Iraq, from traditional to modern intensive, and the wide diversity of soil types, the committee's first task will be to set up some pilot studies to identify existing soil condition and to organise communication channels with farmers to enable their participation in the programme.
Currently, much of Iraq's fertiliser is imported, of poor quality, and used without proper care and consideration.
Dr Selman, whose company makes fertiliser locally in Iraq to the highest standards, says:
"Over many decades, Iraqi farmers use old-fashioned fertiliser, the same type of fertiliser every year, the same type of fertiliser for each crop, so they are poisoning the soil. Our vision is to teach them how to use the right fertiliser for each type of soil and crop."
As part of this process, Mr Goodall also points to the number of ex-pat Iraqis who have shown an interest in this project, from agricultural experts to investors, creating an opportunity for the Iraqi diaspora to reengage with the country and contribute to its prosperity. "There's a lot that could start to come out of this initial project," he adds.
The IBBC Agritech Committee currently consists of:
Dr Amet Selman, AAA Holding Group (Chairman)
Mr Richard Cotton, AAA Holding Group
Mr Mohammed Al Saedi, Sama Hammurabi Law
Mr Shamal Mohammed, Silal
Mr Christophe Michels, IBBC
Mr Ashley Goodall, IBBC
Mr Colin Findlay, IBBC (Secretary to the committee)
The inaugural committee meeting was also attended by a wide range of interested parties, and an ad hoc advisory panel will be formed as required.
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