While agriculture contributes just 3.3% to Iraq’s national GDP, it provides jobs for about a fifth of the country’s workforce, highlighting its importance for many Iraqi families.
Historically, 50 to 60 percent of Iraq’s cultivable land has been actively farmed. During the period when the United Nations Oil-for-Food program was in effect, Iraq imported substantial quantities of grains, meat, poultry, and dairy products. In the early 1980s, Iraq’s government discontinued its collective farming program. However, the Gulf War severely disrupted agricultural activities, compounded by UN economic sanctions. Iraq’s government responded by taking control of grain and oilseed markets, enforcing production quotas, and establishing a public food distribution system.
Throughout the 1990s, as subsidies diminished and agricultural production costs increased, Iraqi farmers faced greater challenges. In northern Iraq, which was outside the central government’s control, Kurdish regions operated with a market-oriented economy supported heavily by international humanitarian aid.
Under the UN’s Oil-for-Food program launched in 1996, Iraq began exporting oil to finance essential imports, including grains. However, the influx of foreign agricultural products led to declines in domestic production of key crops like wheat, barley, and corn. The government’s limited focus on forage crops, fruits, vegetables, and livestock left these sectors somewhat shielded from international pressures, although they suffered from drought and livestock diseases.
Following the 2003 U.S. invasion, a significant number of Iraqis relied on government food subsidies for survival. U.S.-backed agricultural projects then sought to increase productivity, particularly through the Agricultural Reconstruction and Development Iraq (ARDI) initiative, which introduced modern crop varieties and farming practices. The ARDI program worked on improving wheat, barley, rice, corn, and vegetable production and sought to boost livestock yields through better animal nutrition and veterinary care.
After 2006, Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) were deployed to identify and address local agricultural needs, with flexible funding to respond rapidly. While some critics argued that these projects lacked a cohesive national agricultural strategy, others suggested that a reliance on “modern” U.S. methods sometimes overlooked Iraq’s specific agricultural needs.
Despite extensive reconstruction efforts, agricultural production in Iraq struggled to fully recover. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), wheat and rice production showed moderate gains in the years following 2002, but output of barley and corn continued to decline. Although Iraq benefitted from favorable weather, agricultural productivity did not meet demand, leaving the country dependent on food imports.
Recently, environmental changes, such as reduced rainfall and higher temperatures, have added to Iraq’s agricultural challenges. Small-scale farmers, in particular, have been forced to abandon their land due to inadequate water supplies, seeking alternative means of earning a living.
