Agriculture planning is set to boost the economy in the Region.

Due to political unrest in the '90s and the economic mayhem of the last decade, agriculture and farming industry have been sidelined in Kurdistan, given way to a growing import of foreign goods. KRG now says it is optimistic the country not only can be self-sufficient, but also export its agricultural products.

Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Ministry of Agriculture announced its 5-year strategic plan, which is aimed at improving the farming sector to a point where the region can be self-sufficient in all agricultural and food products. The plan was announced in a conference held in Erbil, January 27, 2009, attended by the KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, KRG and Iraqi Ministers of Agriculture, several other KRG ministers, academics and university professors, representatives from a number of private sector companies working in the field of agriculture, as well as a large number of experts in the field.

"We held a conference on agriculture when we prepared the plan, aiming to attract the specialists and experienced people in the agricultural sector before implementing the plan, and also to know about the opinions of companies, organizations and other countries in order to make sure if we can succeed or not, because the plan starts to be implemented in 2009 and the specialists believe that agricultural sector is in need of a strategic plan, without which we can do nothing," said the general manager of Planning in the KRG Ministry of Agriculture, Anwar Omar Qadir.

The general manager of forests in Kurdistan Region, Hussein Hama Karim, shed light on the plans concerning the revival of forests and said it was a good start that everybody thinks the agriculture sector is the basic infrastructure, and this is through setting a five year plan for which a number of conferences have been held. He said there is much to do in order to protect the forests after all the damage throughout the history.

Karim suggests that farmers and villagers, who have immigrated to the cities and are now employed by the public sector, should be sent back to their farms and villages and still have their salaries. This can encourage them to work on their farms.

Regarding the plan, Karim showed his optimism about it and said that previous plans did not succeed simply due to the lack of resources and budget shortages, but those problems are less likely to be as serious for the new plan.

Another challenge for the plan is legal issues related to the agricultural lands in the region, which have been directly addressed by two resolutions decreed by the parliament.

"The first law (No. 32 of 2007) is about using the agricultural lands ? The second law (No. 1 in 2008) is to give possession of agricultural lands to the farmers especially those who have contracts and are currently working on them," said the general manager of Agricultural Lands, Galawej Muheddin. She stated that US$17.5 million have been earmarked for these two laws within five years.

On the other hand, Dr. Raf'at Hidayat, the head of Veterinary and Animal Resources, thinks that the aim of setting plans for the veterinary is to have domestic animal resources. He said even if there is a need for foreign animals, one can bring sheep and goats and breed them in the Kurdistan Region, particularly those animals which can be bred within the Kurdistan Region weather and climate.

"We hope we can raise the level of domestic products from 20% to 40% in 2009, provided that we have the budget. We might also be able to reach 100% within three years, because population rate is increasing and the plan has taken the population rate into consideration. We need the farmers back to the villages and technology should serve them in a scientific and modern way," reported to Dr. Hidayat, "If 3% of Kurdistan Region population work in the agricultural sectors, it means we can rely totally on domestic products and we can have agricultural products for 40 million people."

Hence, if the plan is to be implemented as it is and in time, Kurdistan would shift from importing food to exporting it. And yet, if this is simultaneous with improving production capacity in other sectors such as industry, the region can be a strong economy in the near future and the welfare of its people is expected to rise to a high standard

President Barzani gives Agriculture Minister Abdul-Aziz Tayyib his full support.

Providing Kurdistan Region's population with all of its agricultural needs and improving food safety--all within the next five years--are main goals of the ministry.

Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Minister of Agriculture, Abdul-Aziz Tayyib, announced his ministry's strategic plan for the coming five years. The plan was announced in an agricultural congress held in Erbil's Martyr Saad Abdulla Convention Center on Tuesday, January 27.

Under the title "Toward Achieving Self-Sufficiency in Agricultural Products," the three-day congress was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture to announce its strategic plan and to get feedback from officials from other government institutions, experts, and companies. It was also aimed at persuading foreign investors and businessmen to invest their capital in the agriculture sector of Kurdistan and have a share in bringing this plan to achievement.

Minister Tayyib described the plan as an effort to develop agriculture production in Kurdistan in such a way that can supply all the agriculture and food needs of the region by the end of the period of the plan.

In the congress, which was attended by KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Iraqi Minister of Agriculture Ali Abdul-Hadi, hundreds of experts in the field of agriculture and economics, university professors, representatives from KRG ministries, as well as representatives from a large number of foreign companies, Minister Tayyib said that they are all gathered here to hear the announcement of the strategic plan of his ministry until year 2013, which they are trying hard to implement with the support of the KRG.

The plan aims at improving food safety in the region within the next five years and boosting agricultural production to a level that can provide all the agricultural needs of Kurdistan Region's populations.

During the past two years, Ministry of Agriculture has initiated several steps toward improving the agriculture sector in the region and helping farmers in farming their lands and in being productive. Among those initiatives was the establishment of greenhouses and advanced irrigation systems, central pivots, and distributing fertilizers and pesticides. Besides, US$12 million has been allocated by the KRG for the development projects in agriculture in the 2009 budget.

PM Barzani said in a speech during the first day of the congress that his government will fully support the plan and is looking forward to achieving its goals.

"We see the process of implementing this plan in several steps and we will be working on them, including solving the problems associated with the agricultural lands and using modern technologies in the projects, encouraging people to work on their lands, and providing necessary services for them by the government," said PM Barzani regarding the plan. "We will also be working on organizing and improving the market and supporting farmers in marketing their products and communicating with international organizations regarding this issue."

Anwar Omer, Director General of Planning and Follow-Up in the Ministry of Agriculture, gave a speech about the plan, in which he said that in the plan the population of the region, including Garmian areas, is estimated to be 4,400,000. Wheat production capacity of the region is currently 300,000 tons, but by 2013 the level should become 50,000, which is enough for the whole region's population.

According to Omer, among the main challenges facing the timely implementation of the plan's success is the possibility of not allocating the required and needed budget for the plan in time, as well as water stoppage from neighboring countries such as building dams.

The overall budget for the plan is estimated to be US$10.4 bil.

The agriculture sector, which is the main source of income for Kurdistan, has been facing huge challenges during the past few years due to several factors, including mass immigration of farmers and villagers to the city centers and abandoning their farms, lack of new technology and equipment needed for farming, lack of rain, drought--especially since last year, and lack of a strategic and well-developed plan by the government.

Huge dependence on shares in Iraq's oil revenues by the KRG and dependence of the population on public-sector wages and social benefits have been lessening the importance of agriculture, and in production in general, for the region's economy in the eyes of both farmers and government. However, as the life standards increase and as threats to the oil economy arise, the need for agriculture as the main driver of national product is rising again and needs careful planning and intensive work.