Shafaq About food security challenges facing Iraq, " The Food Security Advisor to the presidency…

of the Kurdistan Regional Government Dr. Talib Murad said in his talk to Shafaq) :" Achieving food security and self-sufficiency in providing food

in Kurdistan and Iraq is impossible at the present time, we depend entirely with more than nearly 80% on imported foodstuffs, which comes from beyond the seas and oceans, in addition to that we have the problem of ration and materials which are imported from abroad, where they do cost $ 6 billion a year. "
He noted that the "decision-makers in Kurdistan and Iraq regard food security at least as important as national security, and we are now facing many problems the most important of which the water problem. However, Iraq has an amount of water that can help to secure the needs of the country of agriculture, as well as there are 60% of the water in Kurdistan which does not come through the Tigris and Euphrates, but are the product of self-Kurdistan. In the past Kurdistan was the food basket of Iraq, and is now suffering from the problem of food security. "
On the reasons of the problem of food security and its solutions in Iraq Murad explained:"This matter needs to study several points as following:
First: The village in Iraq was formerly productive units, and now it is a consumer unit, so it is supposed to return the revolver to put the village in the past.
Second: that the industrialized countries in Europe allocates 50% of its budget to support agriculture, while  we now, with regret at the Ministry of Agriculture, whether in the region or in Iraq do not exceed 2 or 3% of the State budget in support of agriculture and this does not lead to needed reform.
Third: It is supposed to ready the Iraqi people to leave the dependence on the ration.
Fourth: to reduce food imports in gradual stages, too, because it is impossible to close the borders against food commodities at once. That will lead to a famine in all parts of Iraq so it's supposed to think of food production and food security as a priority for the people and the government.

Yassir Imad