MALNUTRITION: Iraq farming practices

Most of Iraq - 78 percent - is not viable for agricultural use. Almost half of the remaining 9.5 million hectares is marginal land used mainly for seasonal grazing of goats and sheep, according to a June 2004 report for the US Congress. Agricultural output accounts for only about 4 percent of gross domestic product.Agriculture has been paralysed by decades of war and insecurity, underinvestment, and the unchecked cutting down of trees for firewood, which had worsened salinity and desertification. According to the Agriculture Ministry, salinity affects at least 40 percent of agricultural land, mainly in central and southern Iraq, while 40-50 percent of what was productive land in the 1970s has been affected by desertification.A Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report estimated that “one third of the Iraqi population resides in rural areas and depends upon agriculture for their livelihoods. However, this segment of the population suffers disproportionately from poverty and food insecurity as 69 percent of all Iraqis living in extreme poverty and food insecurity reside in rural areas.”FAO noted that Iraqi wheat farmers saw a 55 percent reduction in production during 2008 due to severe drought conditions, and dependence on imports is estimated to have risen in 2008 to 74 percent for wheat and 69 percent for all cereals.A joint report by FAO and the Inter-Agency Information and Analysis Unit (supported by major UN agencies and offices in Iraq) entitled Iraq Food Prices Analysis, said food prices in Iraq had risen at a steeper rate than global food prices, largely because of an 800 percent rise in domestic fuel and electricity prices in 2004-2008.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88960