PRT TIKRIT: FARMERS STRUGGLING IN IRAQ,S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004620 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAGR IZ IR SUBJECT: PRT TIKRIT: FARMERS STRUGGLING IN IRAQ,S BREADBASKET ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Tikrit, Salah ad Din cable. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY. The growth of the agricultural sector is essential in Salah ad Din, a rural province in the Sunni heartland largely lacking many of the natural resources of its neighbors. Farmers in Salah ad Din face a number of significant challenges: high prices and unavailability of inputs, reduced access to markets to sell their goods, and an often unresponsive central bureaucracy -- Sunni farmers strongly believe the area is purposefully neglected by the Ministry of Agriculture in Baghdad. Increasing basic agricultural production is the most direct means of increasing general prosperity and a necessary precondition for future agribusiness development. Enhanced GOI support to attain this will likely be crucial to establishing sustained economic growth in the Sunni heartland. END SUMMARY. -------------- Untapped Potential -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Agriculture is the foundation of the economy of Salah ad Din (SaD),a rural province in the Sunni heartland north of Baghdad. Improving access to basic inputs and secure markets for farmers could provide significant benefits for SaD - increased employment, a more diverse business climate through the development of agribusiness, and it is hoped, decreasing support for insurgent activity. Increasing yields would also help to achieve a precondition (along with improved security) to attracting foreign and domestic agribusiness investment. But market dynamics are probably not sufficient to ensure short-term success - the GOI may need to actively subsidize and encourage local farmers through initiatives focusing on basic needs. ¶4. (SBU) Khalaf Hamad, Director General of Agriculture for SaD, told PRT representatives on November 8 that vast tracts of arable land today in SaD are unused. Of 2.6 million arable acres in the province, only 348 thousand acres, or 13 percent, are presently farmed - due in part to insufficient irrigation. Hamad provided the following data regarding the acreage of the principal crops of SaD: -- Citrus, 170,909 acres -- Corn, 94,401 acres -- Barley, 32,701 acres -- Sunflower, 29,616 acres In addition, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, potatoes, sesame, and watermelon are also produced in lesser quantities. ¶5. (SBU) Considered an affront by many residents, SaD imports nearly all of its processed food from Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Local leaders often suggest agribusiness concepts such as reopening the tomato paste processing plant in Balad or the construction of a citrus jam factory in Tikrit. However, many of the prerequisites for substantial industrial development - cold storage, improved security, reliable distribution - do not yet exist. Most importantly, local agricultural yields may need to be strengthened before large-scale agribusiness initiatives would meet with success. -------------- Inputs More Expensive, Less Market Access -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The high price and unavailability of fuel, equipment, fertilizer, pesticides, and other inputs constrains agricultural production in SaD. According to Kareem Kurdi and Ayad Daham, leaders of the provincial planters union, higher operational costs leave many farmers unable to purchase necessary equipment or hire additional employees. Kurdi provided IPAO several examples: -------------- Cost of a tractor in 2003 - 6 million ID (4,000 USD) -------------- Cost of a tractor in 2006 - 30 million ID (20,000 USD) -------------- Cost of onion seed in 2003 - 30 thousand ID (20 USD) per kilogram -------------- Cost of onion seed in 2006 - 60 thousand ID (40 USD) per kilogram ¶7. (SBU) Frequent shortages of diesel fuel result in dependence upon black market sources which typically charge a rate at least three times higher than the official price. The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) provides each farmer with 220 liters per month of diesel fuel; however, this total is only sufficient for about one day of operation on a medium-sized farm. In addition, Daham expressed concern that BAGHDAD 00004620 002 OF 002 a rival farmers union, created by the MoA, was diverting diesel intended for farmers to be sold on the black market. ¶8. (SBU) Iraq suffers from an acute shortage of fertilizer. While the situation was partially alleviated by the restarting of production at the Bayji Fertilizer Plant on November 21 after it had been dormant for two years, only approximately 15 percent of needed fertilizer was distributed in 2005, with a similar result expected for 2006. At its present reduced capacity, Bayji will produce an additional 12 percent of national demand. SaD farmers consistently name the shortage of fertilizer as the biggest impediment to increasing crop yields and obtaining overall growth. The deficiency drives up the black market price and forces most farmers to rely upon lower quality Iranian imports. ¶9. (SBU) The deteriorating security situation has also taken its toll. Many SaD farmers who previously transported their goods to profitable markets in Baghdad or Mosul are now unable to do so. In interviews, SaD farmers often express their belief that the MoA ensures Shia access to Sunni markets but not the reverse. -------------- Poor Irrigation -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Although approximately one-half of all Iraqi arable land is irrigated; in many areas of SaD canals transmit minimal amounts of water due to blockage. In an interview on November 13, the Director General for Water Resources in SaD told PRT members that canal clearing is a top federal priority, but is currently delayed by the security situation. However, on November 14, Kurdi and Daham told IPAO that local farmers offered to provide complete security - but the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) had refused their offer. In addition, all CF and PRT canal clearing proposals submitted to the MoWR have been rejected. -------------- Confidence Low in Central Government -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Kurdi and Daham also strongly conveyed to IPAO their view of the MoA as an anti-Sunni bureaucracy unresponsive to the needs of the farmers of SaD. Many examples were cited, including failures to make good promised deliveries of fertilizers, pesticides and other products. During a November 30 meeting, Tikrit farmer and city council member Matham Al-Qaim described the MoA as incompetent and unresponsive. Al-Qaim and community leaders from Samarra expressed that the negligence was deliberate and left only one option - subsidizing farming inputs and products through provincial and local government. Programs of this type would be difficult to support locally due to the inability of provincial and municipal governments to raise revenue. However, it illustrates the general dissatisfaction with the Sadrist-controlled MoA in SaD and the awareness of the importance of agricultural development here. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Practical and timely GOI policies which provide farmers greater access to basic inputs such as fuel, fertilizer, seed, and water and ensure that they have a market for their products will be critical for the short-term economic recovery and political stabilization of Salah ad Din and other agricultural provinces. While an important long-term strategy, market-based agribusiness is not an immediate panacea given the current circumstances. END COMMENT. ¶13. (U) For additional reporting from PRT Tikrit, Salah ad Din, please see our SIPRNET Reporting Blog: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Tikrit. KHALILZAD