FAO projects new jobs, food to vulnerable Iraqis

NaijaAgroNet:

An estimated 200,000 people from Mosul and across Iraq will be able to earn an income for the first time since the Islamic State of the Levant (ISIL) took parts of the area in 2014, thanks to a new FAO project that is restoring irrigation to 250 000 hectares of farmland, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Water will soon be flowing again through the canals that used to feed the once-fertile land some 30 km west of Mosul - Iraq's third largest city. Through the cash-for-work component of the project, FAO supports vulnerable families who need money for daily needs, including food and clothes, heating and transport. Many of them have not had paid employment for at least two years.

Participants are clearing the main canal of the northern Al Jazeera irrigation scheme of dirt, stones and debris, which will allow it to again feed small canals throughout the farming landscape.

FAO has also repaired the pumping station that feeds the canal system from Mosul Dam. And, for the first time, the agency is collaborating with a demining company to clear valuable farmland around the canals of undetonated ordinances, so farmers can plant crops and graze their livestock safely.

The project is already benefiting more than 3 000 people and is essential in getting farming activities in the area back underway.

"Farmers here haven't been able to grow vegetables for two years, since the irrigation canals were destroyed by armed groups who also contaminated the area with explosive devices," said Fadel El-Zubi, FAO Representative in Iraq. "Restoring people's ability to farm and trade in this area is not only important for food security but also for building prosperity and lasting peace in the country," he added.

Farmers in the region used to export vegetables and crops, including wheat and barley, to Syria and other countries, as well as supplying millions of people in Iraq. Now the country relies on fruit and vegetable imports.

"We collect debris in piles, and then merge every four piles into one big one for the excavator to pick up and remove from the canal," said 23-year-old Ahmed Mohammed, a father of three. "My brother has agricultural land and he'll benefit from the project as well. He used to grow wheat and barley in the winter and vegetables at other times. Now he can only grow vegetables when the rain falls."

The Al Jazeera irrigation scheme used to be an essential source of water for agriculture, livestock and domestic use. Some 100 smaller canals in the system were damaged, bridges were also blown up and the damaged pumping station was working under capacity, resulting in extreme water shortages.

As the Government of Iraq retakes control of more areas, a major effort is needed to rehabilitate critical infrastructure so that agricultural production can resume and livelihoods can be restored. FAO is seeking urgent funding of $89 million to strengthen its emergency response, including rehabilitating damaged agricultural infrastructure, supporting farmers to vaccinate and feed their livestock, and expanding cash-for-work and other income-generating activities.

FAO's work, in coordination with the Iraqi government, supports families returning to reclaimed areas, internally displaced families, host communities and refugees from Syria. The current project on the Al Jazeera irrigation scheme is funded through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Pix: Da Silva, Director-General, FAO

Zim Vice President appeals for cash to save vulnerables

NaijaAgroNet:

The Vice President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa has appealed for cash from development agencies and the private sector to ensure that the vulnerable are not exposed to hunger and starvation, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Nontheless, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Famine Early Warning System Network cautioned that, “the lean season humanitarian assistance is expected to be lower than average due to a challenging funding situation,” while the World Food Programme (WFP) said it will start distributing food at the end of September to recipients who will work on projects including building small dams, repairing roads and starting vegetable gardens.

IolNews quotes WFP information officer, Tinashe Mubaira as saying, “Because of the poor harvest this year, food security levels are deteriorating earlier during the lean season than usual. Consumption coping strategies at the moment are reduction of portion sizes and eating fewer meals. Communities in districts bordering neighbouring countries are crossing over to Mozambique and Zambia for casual labour.”

Recently, villagers in Zimbabwe began to skip meals and foraging for wild fruit as food stocks run out after a poor harvest blamed on drought and controversial land reforms.

A resident ofMusana district northwest of the capital Harare, and a mother of four, RabianChidamba, lamented that nowadays, even if the children complained of hunger, nothing could be done. She went on to say that when the children get hungry between meals they go and look for wild fruit.

“Our harvest came to 10 bags of maize instead of the 30 bags we usually get,” Chidamba decried, saying that normally, she could sell the surplus corn to raise money for her children's school fees among other necessities, but this year's harvest is not enough even to feed her own family.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that Zimbabwe was once a major producer of corn, and became a perennial importer of food in the wake of a fallin agricultural production blamed on President Robert Mugabe's land reforms, which saw the seizure of land from white commercial farmers for redistribution to landless blacks.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology