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It takes a village
Prepared By : Lawen A. Sagerma
Soma Paper No.25 June 22, 2007 - Thursday, July 05, 2007

A former MP regrets that the government does not issue the laws, which would convince Kurds to view farming as a fruitful occupation.

Kurdistan is fast progressing in modernizing its sectors and building a nation that has been for too long underdeveloped, but it seems that the agricultural sector is once again left neglected as the lure of tall buildings remains strong.

Hasan Kanabi, a retired Member of Parliament and lawyer, emphasizes the importance of agriculture especially in Kurdistan where resources are abundant.

“We need to concentrate our attention to making our own products and not rely so much on imports. It is this that stifles our economy and prevents the success of our own farmers. When there is no attention paid to this sector people turn away from this employment and then this field is left empty and neglected and ultimately the country will suffer in the long run.”
Kurdistan has a long history of oppression and struggle paying a high price for its fights against regimes both in terms of human lives and destruction of homes and livelihoods. But it has always persevered and manages to stand on its own two feet; Kanabi attributes this success to two main resources; agriculture and cattle.

“Although Kurdistan had other resources at its disposal it was agriculture and cattle that were taken advantage of,” he said.
“Other resources such as oil for example were made much better use of by those that have in the past occupied Kurdistan’s lands because they had all the essential equipment to utilize such resources. We are beginning to overlook the benefits of agriculture. It is slowly but surely falling through our hands,” added Kanabi.

Over the years, there has indeed been a large and visible exodus of people from villages into the cities. Kanabi illustrates that a strategy to get people to leave their villages in favor of the bright lights of the cities was one deployed by the political parties after the fall of the Kingdom in 1958. The idea was to lure people to join their forces in order to strengthen their abilities.
People are no longer interested in building Kurdistan’s future in the cornfields and see money in the construction process. This is indeed an illusion because the resources available to Kurdistan in the villages and countryside are enough to firmly establish a strong and vibrant agricultural sector capable of competing with any country in the Middle East and eventually beyond even those borders.

The problem lies in the lack of a devoted and dedicated workforce that wants to make agriculture a strong sector. “When the Baathist regime came into power, those with no knowledge or experience in the agricultural field came asking for land only to rent it out to farmers to do the work and reap the profits,” said Kanabi.

“We need a stronger and more forceful law on agricultural. Previous laws have in no way helped to take advantage of the countryside; it needs to be changed so that the law can benefit the people and the nation. However at times, the law is satisfactory but it is its implementation or indeed lack of implementation that is the impediment," added Kanabi.
Kanabi explained that what needs to be done is to bestow responsibility onto villages and allow them to take matters into their own hands.

“When you distribute land, you need to hand ownership over to the people of the villages because they know their village better than anyone else and they know their residents so it follows that they would know who would be best for the job of taking care of agricultural matters.”

“There are mosques with 10 imams each, schools with 20 caretakers, 70 civil servants, and many if not all with no qualification or knowledge of the task they are to undertake in their post. There does not need to be so many employees for one job. It doesn't make sense. We should be encouraging people to participate in reviving the agricultural sector,” added Kanabi.

The prevailing consensus seems to be that money and modernization are far from the countryside and the villages especially amongst the youth of today. Forsaking that many battles were fought and their freedom secured in the very places that they now reject, it is a shame that Kurds look upon villages as something of an embarrassment.

“We are not teaching people about agriculture or portraying it in a positive enough light to make people want to pursue a career there. These things will not be fixed overnight and it will take a long time with continued efforts,” concluded Kanabi.