Jan 19, 2015

Iraqi Minister of Agriculture Ghazi al-Abboudi said Iraq “lost 40% of its agricultural production capacity after the Islamic State (IS) took control of the most productive provinces.” He said the Ministry of Agriculture “had hoped to achieve self-sufficiency and to announce it officially at the end of this year.”

In June, IS took control over Ninevah province and were headed toward the provinces of Salahuddin, Kirkuk, Diyala and Anbar and some areas around Baghdad before government forces halted its advancement.

Nearly a third of Iraq's population works in the agricultural sector, which provides a living for about 11 million out of 35 million Iraqis.

Abboudi told Al-Hayat, “The plan was designed to fully achieve self-sufficiency and food security and to officially announce it at the end of this year. Yet, security developments and the entry and control of terrorist gangs, namely IS, over the richest agricultural towns have prevented that.”

On strategic crops such as corn, wheat and barley, he said production “has reached a record of 80% of the actual need. After 2003, we have imported our needs of cereals.” He said, “Animal production reached 52% of the actual need, while we have achieved full self-sufficiency in the production of vegetables, and 60% of the production of fruits.” Abboudi did not overlook that “the infrastructure of the agricultural sector has been destroyed in these areas, and we have to start from scratch.”