For 8,000 years, the fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers has yielded agricultural goods. But after years of war and neglect, Iraq’s farming system is in a dire state. To provide work and income to Iraq’s rural population, the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Agriculture Reconstruction and Development Program for Iraq (ARDI) worked to revitalize the area’s agricultural sector.

With four components—agricultural production, agribusiness, rural financial services, and soil and water resources—this program assisted the rural population in solving the most pressing problems facing the agricultural sector. The program’s goal was to restore and improve conditions for productive and profitable agriculture. DAI built on existing physical infrastructure and human and institutional resources to address the underlying causes of weakness in Iraq’s agricultural production.

The program conducted assessments of Iraqi agriculture, identifying where and how resources should be used and then awarded competitive grants to private firms and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to implement projects that increased production quickly, reduced or eliminated the need for food aid, and improved rural incomes. Cereals, horticulture, livestock, dairy, and poultry production received the most attention.

One of the main products of ARDI’s initial period was A Transition Plan for the Agriculture Sector in Iraq (Volume I and II). The U.S. Ambassador requested that ARDI and the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) together develop recommendations and guiding principles to inform those working in the agricultural sector of specific development and reconstruction needs. A large ARDI team worked with MOA staff, Coalition Provisional Authority officials, and private sector business people to produce the three-year plan, which then provided the overall strategy for ARDI interventions. It was also used extensively by other donor agencies and the military to focus investments in agriculture. Among the program’s achievements:

ARDI put an estimated $80 million back into the local economy through contracts for equipment, construction, and other services.

ARDI generated jobs for 34,000 people in any given week.

ARDI built the skills of 19 NGOs active in agriculture development, 293 agricultural cooperative members (through 15 newly formed cooperative associations), 4,300 beekeepers and honey producers, 233 independent pesticide dealers (launching a national association), and 526 extension specialists.

ARDI’s training effort improved the ability of mechanics and welders in four governorates to provide repair and maintenance services for agricultural machinery. The 216 rural mechanics and welders trained under ARDI will work in approximately 210 workshops, each of which represents a new small business opportunity in a rural village. Each workshop should be able to offer improved services to a minimum of 100 clients, for a total beneficiary population of 21,600 tractor owners.

ARDI rehabilitated 68 veterinary clinics in 17 governorates, serving 135,068 livestock breeders owning 5.7 million animals. Thanks to these efforts, 967 veterinarians were able to return to work in fully functioning clinics. The rehabilitation projects also provided temporary employment for 4,905 workers.