Agriculture

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The Harmonized Support for Agricultural Development (HSAD)

 

Project Snapshot

 

  • Implementing Partner: International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) with a consortium of U.S. Universities and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
  • Iraqi Counterparts: Ministry of Agriculture, Iraqi Farmers and Agribusinesses
  • Areas of Operation: All provinces

 

Project Objectives

HSAD (“Harvest” in Arabic) works with Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) to identify and address key constraints to the greater competitiveness of agricultural and agribusiness value chains. The overall objective is to create more competitive agricultural value chains, where final product costs are at or below regional or world averages, and to increase agricultural marketing productivity, leading to higher incomes and more jobs across Iraq. The project targets commodities strategic to national food security where current inefficiencies in agricultural production prevent meeting domestic food needs by local production. These commodities include wheat and barley, forage and food legumes, small ruminant meat and dairy products, date palm and selected horticulture crops.

 

 Project Approach

As the Government of Iraq (GOI) adopts liberalized agricultural policies, agricultural value chains will be more competitive. The project provides technical assistance to the MoA and supports the ministry’s reform agenda. The ministry and the project have jointly identified areas of intervention and developed a roadmap of reforms to be undertaken. This approach leads to more efficient and productive agriculture value chains, which will play an important part in generating employment, increasing incomes for farmers and agribusiness employees, and creating a diversified and developed economy. The project will engage the MoA and private sector stakeholders in nearly every stage of its implementation.

 

Anticipated Outcomes

Astronger Iraqi agricultural sector as a result of reformed laws, regulations and institutions, enabling policies, and more competitive agribusinesses.