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RAMADI, Iraq (January 22, 2008) - Reviving agricultural
enterprises that have deteriorated from years of sanctions,
conflict and neglect is crucial to the economy in this region in
western Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi officials here said. A U.S. Marine
embedded training team is teaching Afghan army officers to show
initiative and take the lead for their army and country.
"I've seen several (poultry) growers who have returned to
production during my seven months here, and more will return as
things continue to improve," said Marine Maj. Daryl F. Remick, an
agricultural planner with the Fallujah-area provincial
reconstruction teams.
As a farmer's son and poultry specialist, Remick is keenly aware
that raising chickens is but a single link in a complex chain of
activities that can make or break farmers. "We have to evaluate the
entire agricultural value chain for al Anbar," he said.
Assessing a value chain means considering not only what is
taking place on the farm, but also looking at how farmers receive
inputs, such as seed, fertilizer or poultry feed, and how they
market the products they produce, he said. Identifying weak links
in each agricultural product's value chain is critical for making
that industry profitable.
U.S. military civil affairs personnel and civilians embedded
with provincial reconstruction teams interact with local
communities, investigate where the value chains need upgrading and
recognize restorable agribusinesses. When several enterprises
fitting this description were identified by the Ramadi PRT's
embedded personnel, Navy Cmdr. Kevin Anderson, detailed to the
State Department, and Marine Maj. Lee Suttee, a Marine Corps civil
affairs specialist, requested members of the Inma Agribusiness
Program visit the area. Inma is an Arabic word meaning
"growth."
The program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International
Development, is working to restore Iraqi agribusiness, a sector
estimated to support 27 percent of the population. During a recent
two-day tour in and around Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital,
Anderson and Suttee escorted USAID's Ron Curtis and David Smale and
Inma party chief Herschel Weeks to several private-sector
agribusiness investment opportunities.
The group listened as three farmers described the same "weak
link" problems. Day-old chicks are expensive and often require
costly shipping. Farmers must use costly imported feed of unknown
quality. Immunizations and veterinary care are expensive, and
disease-testing labs are unavailable.
"Inma wants to make sure that the feed and other needs are in
place for the farmer to make money," Weeks said, "and that there is
a market for the products."
During the summer, the provincial sheiks council requested PRT
assistance in re-establishing a competitive local poultry industry.
Available, affordable feed looked like the best first step in the
process. Inma's maize-growing demonstration project introduced
hybrid seeds and precision planting to local farmers. Iraq's
traditional maize yield tripled, and by planting between the annual
wheat crops, farmers used their fields off season and produced
much-needed animal feed, Inma officials said.
Availability of Ramadi-grown feed strengthens the poultry value
chain. As increased poultry production expands the market for feed,
further grain production is encouraged. Inma officials said they
want to improve other links in this chain by developing feed-mill
capacity to prepare grains and legumes for chicken feed and
improving hatchery operations to supply young chicks.
The commitment that Anderson and Suttee's team have to
revitalizing Anbar's economy was evident in the two-day assessment
tour of Ramadi's Zangora and Jazeera districts. In addition to all
the poultry interests, they also had identified a potentially
profitable fish pond and a mushroom farm that in 2003 employed 80
workers. At one local market, Iranian mushrooms sell for $2.50 a
pound.
"Private industry can flourish," Weeks said. "Agriculture can
become profitable and provide food for the Iraqi people."
"Our goal," Anderson added, "is to see Iraqi-grown produce in
not only the local markets, but also in markets of Jordan and
Syria."
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