Many vulnerable rural families in Iraq can now
benefit from a safer, more secure means of receiving income thanks to mobile
money transfer technology adopted for the first time by Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) as part of a
cash-for-work programme aimed at rehabilitating agricultural infrastructure and
land, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The programme, which is funded by the Belgian
Government, will support 12,000 conflict-affected people in 30 villages in
Kirkuk, Anbar, Salah al-Din and Ninewa governorates. It will benefit local
farmers, by enabling them to restart or expand farming activities with
rehabilitated infrastructure, and provides agricultural livelihoods
opportunities for displaced people returning home.
Participants, who are from households with no
other income source, include women who are often the sole breadwinners for
their families, and people with a disability. The workers and their families
are people who either remained in their villages during conflict or returned
home after being displaced by the fighting.
"The use of mobile technology will
streamline the safe delivery of cash transfers to participants, who are some of
the most vulnerable people in the country," said Fadel El-Zubi, FAO
Representative in Iraq. "Providing income opportunities is critical in rural
areas affected by conflict, where competition for employment is high, jobs are
scarce and people are struggling to support their families."
To facilitate the payments, FAO has partnered
with Zain a mobile and data services operator with a commercial footprint in
eight Middle Eastern and African countries. Participant names and identity
numbers are pre-registered with the company, and they receive a free SIM card.
Once each person completes a certain number of days of work, they receive a
text message containing a personalised security code. They can then collect
their wages from any certified money mobile transfer agent, provided their code
and identity number match those registered.
"As well as providing much-needed income
for participants, the programme will improve agricultural production in the
surrounding communities, through activities including rehabilitating canals for
irrigation to grow crops and preparing farmland for planting," said
El-Zubi. "This, in turn, will encourage community members still displaced
by conflict to return home and begin farming again. FAO's aim is to support
people to get back on their feet as quickly as possible, and reduce their
reliance on food assistance."
Around 12 million Iraqis reside in rural areas
and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Years of conflict has
destroyed or damaged harvests, equipment, infrastructure, livestock, seeds,
crops and stored food; and left 3.2 million Iraqis food insecure. As of 15 July
2017, more than 3.3 million people remained displaced within Iraq, while about
2 million had returned home.
