The agricultural reality in Iraq after 2003, challenges and solutions

Iraq / Arab Summit News Agency
Archaeologists confirm that the first habitat for agriculture was in Iraq and its northern regions in the Neolithic era, within the limits of (12 thousand years BC), according to the Zarzi caves in Sulaymaniyah, the village of Jarmo, about 11 km east of Chamchamal, and the village of Hassouna Which is located 35 km south of the city of Mosul, in addition to the agricultural villages in the sedimentary plain, such as: Ur, Eridu, and Warka. For food for any community, in addition to providing job opportunities for a large number of the population, as the number of workers in the agricultural sector in Iraq – according to the 1997 census – reached (950,317) people, at a rate of (6.19%) of the total economically active population in the year 2000 There were conflicting opinions about the area of agricultural land in Iraq. due to the loss of data evidence and basic information for drawing any public policy; Because there is no general population census for all of Iraq, and since the last census in 1997, and for only fifteen governorates except for the Kurdistan region, as some opinions refer to (30) million dunums, out of the total Iraqi land area amounting to (177,770) million dunums, i.e. : The Iraqi arable lands constitute approximately (17%) of the area of ​​Iraq, which is a good proportion compared to much of the world in the south. For example, arable agricultural lands in the Arab Republic of Egypt do not constitute only (6%) of the total area.
The contribution of the agricultural sector to the GDP – after 2003 – was estimated at (5%) according to 2010 estimates, and in 2013 the relative contribution to the GDP of the agricultural, forestry and fishing sectors was (9.3%), which indicates the small contribution of the sector Iraqi agricultural in the gross domestic product, and the underdevelopment of agricultural development in Iraq, which is a manifestation of the structural imbalances that the Iraqi economy has suffered from in the past three decades, which made the Iraqi economic system view the agricultural sector as a secondary sector, as it made the agricultural sector suffer from external challenges (scientific and technological development), and internal challenges (lack of optimum utilization of agricultural resources and energies, and security and political instability).
First: Background and Discussions
The agricultural sector is one of the most important economic activities that contribute to the national economy, and food security is linked to national security, as achieving food security depends primarily on providing food from local agricultural production, in addition to the contribution of the agricultural sector to diversifying the economy, alleviating poverty, and improving the trade balance And achieving movement for most of the sectors related to it, and the development of the agricultural sector contributes to combating unemployment, reducing the volume of imports, the development and advancement of society, and strengthening the national economy, and the national product is the most secure and reassuring about the health safety of the consumer compared to the importer; Because most diseases are related to food and food consumption, as well as the development of the agricultural economic sector, which has a positive impact on improving the environmental reality.