IPS:IRAQ: Kurds have land

[PeaceNet Middle East Team]

From: <pnmideast>
Subject: IPS:IRAQ: Kurds have land

/* Written 12:03 am  Nov  7, 1992 by newsdesk at igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "IRAQ: Kurds have land and know-how," ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Environment
Title: IRAQ: Kurds have land and know-how, but no equipment or seeds


an inter press service feature

by john roberts

sarraw, iraq, nov 04 (ips) -- kurdistan contains some of the best
soil in iraq. but today, little food is grown in the valleys of
rich brown earth; tractors lie idle and though some seed has been
planted by hand, distribution is poor in this kurdish populated
region.

''before 1988, the kurdish areas were self-sufficient. but in
1988 the iraqi government destroyed the countryside,'' says dr
aumeed noori amin, a senior official with the kurdistan
agricultural rehabilitation and development organisation (kardo).

''for agriculture, we need tractors. the iraqis took most of our
tractors. we have perhaps 20 to 30 percent of our tractor needs,''
amin told ips.

the iraqis uprooted hundreds of thousands of villagers,
destroying their homes and forcing the mainly agricultural
community to live in specially constructed modern collective
villages, often far away from their fields but where they could be
better controlled by the iraqi military.

now, the villagers of kurdistan -- a once vibrant agricultural
community -- are reduced to begging for hand-outs. ''nawt,
nawt!'', they cry to any passing stranger, meaning ''kerosene,
kerosene!''.

they have little or no fuel for their small stoves and are
reduced to collecting brushwood for fires, both for cooking and
heating.

it is a striking contrast with the tidy, air-conditioned and
neatly-polished offices in irbil where the minister for
agriculture and irrigation in the newly elected kurdish regional
government stresses theoretical problems of land ownership rather
than practical issues of reopening irrigation dykes and seed
distribution.

the kurds have inherited the iraqi system in which much of the
land is owned by the state, with farm workers producing on behalf
of the state.

this structure became all the more rigid with the destruction of
some 4,000 traditional villages and the enforced collectivisation
of the peasantry into saddam's compact and easily guarded
collected villages.(more/ips)

iraq: kurds have land and know-how, but no equipment or seeds(2-e)

iraq: kurds (2)

agriculture minister qadar aziz, plans to hold a major
agricultural conference in kurdistan next spring at which, he says
''hundreds of experts will participate''. the goal, he says, will
be to ''create a law to suit realistic needs and to solve problems
and establish conditions based on equality and justice''.

but while the need for land redistribution is clear,
aid workers say the most immediate issue is simply getting seed
into the hands of existing farmers.

the iraqi government has cut off regular seed distribution and
charitable organisations which have brought seed in have found it
difficult to arrange direct distribution.

one major supply brought in overland from turkey was immediately
allocated by local kurdish authorities to the irbil region, the
only area of kurdistan where there is no seed shortage.

in the end, the local voluntary agency handed the seeds over to
the kurdish governmental authorities in dohuk for distribution to
state-owned farmland. it had been intended for private farmers.

the instinctive wish of the new kurdish authorities to emulate
the old state-run iraqi agricultural administration, pose problems
that will not easily be solved -- not in the short term at least.
but the issues -- lack of fuel, seed and cash -- can not wait for
long-term solutions.

these shortages largely stem from the fact that the region is
still regarded by the u.n. as being a part of iraq, and thus
liable to u.n. sanctions; at the same time, baghdad has for more
than a year instituted its own ban on trade with the kurdish-
controlled areas.

with such restrictions, the kurdish authorities say they are only
able to cultivate 60 percent of the land under their control.

''some lands are not being exploited because we are undergoing a
double blockade by the united nations and the baghdad regime. we
need technical assistance, fertilisers, spare parts, seeds. all
these are lacking. that's why some our lands are unexploited.''

and with winter setting in, it seems likely that the failure to
sow enough seed this year will lead to further food shortages next
year.

thus the outside world, through failing to provide a naturally
rich area with the rudimentary wherewithal to meet its basic
agricultural requirements, is likely to find itself in the
embarrassing position of once again having to provide the kurds
with emergency food supplies next year, for the third year in a
row.(end/ips/ac-ne/jmr/cpg/92)