On the basis of the experience in the northern Governorates, the following section provide a strategic perception for addressing agricultural-related needs of the vulnerable segments of the population in the country.
The Three-year Programme for the rehabilitation of the food and agricultural sector in northern Iraq has been prepared within the context of the Common Programme Framework, CPF, (see Chapter XVI below). Under the CPF, UNOHCI has given guidelines for the preparation of relevant rehabilitation programme to all UN agencies. It recognizes that modalities for humanitarian assistance to societies have evolved considerably over the last decade, from provision of relief aid, rebuilding infrastructure and injecting resources, to a new concept which recognizes rehabilitation as a complex operation requiring comprehensive conceptual and operational strategies.
A Programme Component entitled "Addressing Agricultural-Related Needs of Vulnerable Groups" within the three-years agricultural Programme has been designed specifically to respond to the needs of vulnerable villages, households and groups of individuals in the northern Governorates of Iraq. The main objectives included: improving income earning opportunities for vulnerable groups and empowering communities for local planning, problem solving, and co-ordination with local authorities. It would also provide mechanisms for the entire Programme and other technical units for inclusion of vulnerable groups, better targeting and increased response capacities to the needs of the most vulnerable segments of the population. These objectives are, indeed, also valid for adoption in the entire country.
The CPF adopts the WFP Vulnerability Index, which is a composite of food availability, access and utilization. It takes wheat production as a proxy indicator of food availability. Other proxy indicators of food security are income/salary, expenditure on non-food items, and possession of sheep, goats, cows and buffaloes
Food utilization is computed using chronic malnutrition, including measurement of body mass for women and men as proxy indicators. The WFP has weighted these factors and classified districts from lowest to highest vulnerability. According to the CPF, the daily calorie intake will be used as a supplementary indicator.
FAO has recommended other proxy variables for food security that included such variables as ownership of and access to agricultural land, and other productive resources, including farm inputs, extension services, level of literacy of household members and non-farm income. These variables have been included in the FAO Socio-economic Survey. The survey also ranks Sub-districts according to incidence of vulnerability, which is useful in the selection of sub-districts.
The vulnerable rural household segment constitutes 26% of the total rural Households, with an average Household income of US$ 258 per year. These Households spend on average 61% of their income on food. The indicator of vulnerability underscores the importance of cash income in the food security equation.
Of these groups, 48% have mud houses compared with 40% overall average. Up to 50% of houses have only two rooms for a family size of 5-8 members. This could be attributed in part to the fact that 88% of the villages were destroyed in recent years.
The relative isolation of these villages also contributes to Household vulnerability, especially in the provision of agricultural inputs, marketing of farm produce, access to education, health and other services.
(i) Rural households owning less than 2.5 ha of land
This group constitutes 27% of the vulnerable rural Households, with an average income of Household of about US $ 265 per year.
About half of this land is usually cultivated with wheat and barley as the main crops, constituting about 80% of the planted area; orchards are about 12%, and vegetables 10%, which could be attributed to lack of irrigated land.
(ii) Landless rural households
Landless Households constitute about 38% of the Vulnerable Rural Households, with an average annual Household income of about US$ 246, derived primarily from a small number of livestock, with each Household owning on average 1 cow, 12 sheep and goats, 12 poultry birds.
A small number are employed in farm labour (5%), trade and transport (1% each), army and police (3%) and government (2%).
(iii) Female headed rural households
According to an FAO Survey, the main defining characteristics of these Households are:
- 1 900 Female Headed Households own less than 10 donums of rain fed-land, with an average annual Household income of about (US$ 270). Livestock is a major source of income of these Households, and they have similar land use and livestock ownership patterns.
- 1 951 Female Headed Households are landless, with an annual Household income of about US$ 214. Their major source of livelihood is livestock, with ownership on average being less than 1 cow, 8 sheep or goats, and 6 poultry birds per Household.
(iv) Vulnerable households in urban areas and collective towns
The Collective Towns (CTs) were created in the context of the Anfal operation, to settle populations displaced by conflicts. The population of these towns was displaced from their villages, and many families lost members during these operations. Most of these towns are in the semi-arid steppe areas, and these populations have very limited access to land and livestock. The Collective towns do not have natural markets, as these structures were created by military actions, with no established hinterland. These households tend to have limited income-earning opportunities. A considerable number of relatively "better off" families returned to their original villages in the late 90s.
Most of the population of the collective towns does not have key services, such as water supply and electricity. There is limited access to firewood, thus, most people use kerosene. They have limited access to their original villages, due to the high cost of travel. Those who were able to return to their villages did so, leaving a sizeable number of those who could not afford to go back, and some better off households stayed behind due to better access to services.
The very poor bordering on destitution, are primarily located in the collective towns and urban areas, and are mainly disabled headed households, elderly, infirm, and 'Anfal' widows. They have little opportunities for employment, and over half of their limited income comes from gifts/charity, loans and sale of assets. They survive through casual work, mostly carried out by children and women in the family. They have marginal financial resources, and have no access to livestock or crop production. They rely primarily on their own income and food from the food basket, which is estimated to constitute about 90% of their food needs.
Historically, a substantial portion of this group had access to land in their original villages, but are now unable to access it due to lack of money and support. These poor groups have to purchase a much larger proportion of their food intake, while the middle income groups consume a considerable amount of their own production.
In the urban towns, there is a more established pattern of work and labour, often centred around trading and service provision. Regular employment constitutes the main source of income, for the less poor group, which also has secondary sources of casual work, such as construction, petty trade, etc. Expenditure on food is high for all groups, as these families produce only a small amount of food. The poor and very poor groups spend very little on household items and are under a significant burden of debt.
(i) Internally displaced persons (IDPs)
This group has been extensively treated in Habitat's IDP Site and Family Survey. It is estimated that the IDP population in northern Iraq in September 2000 was about 805 000 individuals (about 141 234 households); about 23% of the population.
According to the survey, most of these people may be considered settled, as only 25% are still thinking of going back to their places of origin, or to some other place, such as a District or Governorate center. Only about 24% of the displaced households are now living in their place of origin.
According to the CPF (August 2002), more than 85% of the IDPs live in urban areas, with the highest percentage in collective towns (55.38%), and a small percentage in the three city centres (7.5%), with the remaining in district and sub-district towns. Various surveys indicate that 73% are of rural origin, 41% are Female Headed households, 62% are illiterate, 61% do not have a steady income, 52% have minimal or no access to social services.
Temporary versus Permanent Population: According to Habitat's, Settlement and household Survey Report 2000, the presence of temporary populations is very high in the urban and rural areas, and practically absent in the collective towns. These are mainly displaced people, who were forced to move to urban centres. They go back a few months in the year to cultivate land in their place of origin.
A large number of these people, living temporarily in the rural areas are farmers, who move seasonally, mainly in the summer to cultivate their land. They go back to urban areas and devote themselves to other activities. Some reside in urban areas for safety reasons and come from other parts of Iraq or the same Governorate, and wait to return to their original places when the political situation improves.
The ratio of temporary to permanent population is 10.6% in urban areas, 7.3% in rural areas, and 3.1% in collective towns.
(ii) Female headed households
According to Habitat's, Settlement and household Survey Report 2000, there is a remarkable predominance of women in Collective Towns in Erbil and Darbandikhan, in the Urban Centres of Dahuk and Sulaymaniyah, and in the rural areas of Sulaymaniyah. Men outnumber women in the rural areas in Erbil, with an overall balance between the two sexes in the other areas.
Female headed households constitute 10.5% versus 89.5% male headed households. Among the females, 2.1% are single, 4.1% are married, 89% are widowed, 1.2% are divorced, and 3.7% are separated. The high percentage of widows is a consequence of wars and internal conflicts in the area, with the highest number in Sulaymaniyah, reflecting the devastating nature of the clashes there.
(iii) Disabled people
This group constitutes 10% of the total adult population; 12.5% males, and 9% females. Disabilities include hearing/speech and vision impairment, and other physical limitations and mental illnesses.
FAO activities for vulnerable groups have been mainly (not totally) funded out of the Locally Generated Funds (LGF). The concept of LGF started in 1997. Funds allocated for Oil-for-Food Programme initially were limited for equitable and effective distribution various inputs to end users. According to the MOU, a nominal fee was levied on most Oil-for-Food agriculture inputs, to cover the cost of internal transportation, handling and distribution.
These proceeds were called LGF, and a committee for its management was established in each of the sub-offices. This committee managed the funds generated from the sale of inputs. It was constituted of Local Authorities (LAs), Governor's Office, and Farmers Union, under the Chair of FAO. The committee reviewed funding proposals for vulnerable groups, which had been evaluated by FAO technical staff for each relevant sub-sector. It was also responsible for project identification, carrying out needed surveys, and approval of schemes up to US$ 5 000. The FAO Coordination Office approved schemes up to US$ 25 000, while technical clearance from FAO Representative was needed for schemes exceeding this amount. Project requests originated from local NGOs, Village Association, and/or Local Authorities.
LGF activities were carried out in consultation with communities in marginalized areas and in resettled areas. Beneficiaries included vulnerable groups, small farmers in marginalized or drought stricken areas, female headed households, and IDPs who had returned to their villages.
Activities undertaken under the LGF funds included such measures as investment in small irrigation projects, agro-forestry, apiculture, establishment of nurseries, fruit and vegetable production, livestock and backyard poultry, rural infrastructure, income generation activities, and capacity building of communities.
A special mention should be made of three pilot projects that were started in 2001, specifically designed for addressing the needs of vulnerable groups. These were in cottage industry, poultry, and small ruminants. The idea for these activities came from the FAO/WFP Small Ruminants Project. Some irrigation schemes have also been approved under LGF, which are specifically aimed at vulnerable groups as well.
Certain projects were specifically designed and implemented for targeting vulnerable groups, which are funded under the main programme and not under the LGF. For example, the recently started Integrated Agriculture Project (approx. US$ 17 million). The project was initially started on a pilot basis, to cover 1500 vulnerable households all over the three Governorates
Local authorities (LA). The term Local Authorities (or LAs) is commonly used to refer to the concerned department (such as DOA) at the Governorate, District or Sub-district levels; and the local government setup at the village level, which could either be the head of the village (Mukhtar), or the Village Council (Anjuman); and the branch of the Kurdish Farmers Union (KFU) at each of these levels.
Line departments dealing with specific vulnerable groups. The department of human rights, deportees and anfal issues deals with families of Anfal victims, IDP families returning from Iran only, and the disabled. They identify the most vulnerable families on the basis of a needs assessment, and inform Habitat, which provides housing and municipal services to (all) IDPs. UNOPS provides emergency relief services and basic necessities to returnees from Iran (and Kirkuk), and gives vocational training to youth. UNICEF supplies water pipes for distribution of water, and WFP provides food to IDPs deported by GOI to NI. Some IDPs are being re-settled by HABITAT in collective towns.
The department of health and social affairs deals with other vulnerable groups, such as Female Headed households. UN agencies dealing with this group include; WFP which has a Skills Enhancement Programme for Female Headed households to impart skills and literacy training to about 2 000 beneficiaries, through establishing women's groups, and training and capacity building of LNGOs. They also have other projects targeting female-headed households, such as, the Small Ruminants Project (with FAO), bee-keeping activities, and other food for work projects.
FAO has a number of projects for assisting vulnerable groups including poultry keeping project and other income generating activities especially for widows, in which training is offered to women in animal production, poultry rearing, and crop production.
UNICEF has activities for children, which also affect the well-being of women, while UNESCO's education programme and WHO health activities, are not gender specific but benefit these groups as well. Several of the NGOs also have projects targeting these groups, (See the following section on activities of NGOs).
The active collaboration of these agencies, and others working in these fields in Iraq, is highly recommended, (see Chapter XVII on current joint efforts being led by UNDG).
The NGO's income generation forum. This NGO conducted a survey in 1999-2000, on the income generation activities of local and international NGOs working in the region, who have projects ranging from brick and carpet factories, to small loans and household food security, such as sheep and hen distribution.
They found that 65% of these projects targeted female headed households (or widows), while 25% targeted IDPs. Women constituted 75% of the target group, while the disabled constituted 10% of the target group. However, the number of beneficiaries of these projects is relatively low, as most of these projects are of a pilot nature.
About 40% of these projects were found to be located in rural villages, 20% in semi-urban (or Collective Towns in rural areas), 30% in urban areas, while 10% reached a combined semi-urban and rural population. At least 40% of these projects were found to have agriculture related activities.
Vulnerable women were identified and groups of 5-10 women were formed, who select a leader. Before a loan is given, training is given to women in book-keeping, planning, organizing meeting, savings programme, identifying new beneficiaries, and conducting market research. The NGOs felt that these activities created a sense of greater self reliance, gender balance, and empowerment among these women.
The money returned from small loans was invested in revolving funds, and more loans were given to others. Accounts were managed by the NGO at first, but later they were transferred to the group; and eventually the group leaders collected the savings and managed the accounts. The participants discussed their experiences and shared information with each other.
These activities gave the beneficiaries an enhanced sense of personal empowerment, increased self-confidence, sense of self worth, status within the community, increased income, and consequently a greater control over their circumstances. It also helped to bring a positive change in the lives of the children, through improved nutrition, housing, health and school attendance. Similarly, widows and disabled felt that their status within the community has improved considerably.
Some NGOs like Reach, Iraqi Amal Association (IAA), and Women's Union (WU), have been working in two or three Governorates, and have a much wider spread, compared to some of the others. They have a relatively larger staff, and get training and funding from International Agencies and NGOs. Some are specifically women NGOs, like IAA and the WU, whose activities include; income generation for women, construction of schools, cultural activities, social and legal awareness, women's rights, and human rights.
Both the WU and IAA are working on the WFP/FAO Small Ruminants Project in Erbil, while Kedo and KSC are also working on it in Sulaymaniyah (a good example of inter-agencies collaboration). They distribute sheep, supervise the building of pens, create women's groups of 10 members who select a leader, and give social awareness and literacy training to women, and health courses on sheep and goats.
UN Agencies. UNOHCI's role is to ensure that vulnerable groups are included in all the UN agency programmes. Its main area of focus for implementation is IDPs and provision of safe water, health, education, and food security. They try to ensure that issues of gender, environment, IDPs, sustainability, etc. are included. They also try to ensure cost effectiveness and maximum utilization of resources, and linking of projects to their objectives. It has given guidelines for preparation of three-year programmes to all the UN agencies.
Several of the UN agencies are preparing or have prepared their three-year programmes, and some, are already moving towards a more participatory approach. As noted earlier, FAO has prepared a Three-year Agricultural Programme for the northern Governorates (see Chapter XVI). WFP is making its three-year Programme to address food security issues in a comprehensive way. Its plan includes a Skills Enhancement Project for women, and is working through local NGOs to build their capacity. UNICEF is focusing on safe motherhood, nutrition, child protection, health, etc. for vulnerable groups. UNOPS has a small programme for emergency relief for IDPs, primarily those returning from Iran and Kirkuk, and strengthening and planning of LAs. Habitat has already introduced community participation activities in its programme.
The Joint Humanitarian Information Center (JHIC) has compiled district and village level data bases, for cross-sectoral and inter-agency data, by sector and by agency, and has also set up a GIS.
Again as noted above, active collaboration of FAO in some of these initiatives, as appropriate, is indeed commendable.
Appreciating the substantial and constructive efforts and first-hand experience of FAO in assisting the vulnerable segments of the population in the northern Governorates, the following are some lessons of experience for consideration by the follow-up multidisciplinary field work during this work on assisting vulnerable groups in the rest of the country:
(i) Continuing application of participatory approaches and methods to assist vulnerable groups: To this end:
conducting a thorough needs assessment for vulnerable communities;
identifying appropriate schemes and site selection for the most needy;
targeting of beneficiaries;
enhancing vulnerable community contribution and active participation;
introducing cost recovery and repayment schemes for sustainability;
carrying out participatory scheme maintenance;
ensuring technological and socio-economic sustainability of schemes for vulnerable groups; and
empowerment of communities/beneficiaries through training in participatory approaches.
(ii) Launching substantial training and capacity building programme: It is recommended to launch a large scale programme of training and capacity building for project staff and staff of LAs, (see Chapter XIV). Other Stakeholders also need to be included in this process of capacity building. In particular, there is a need for a major programme of training in participatory methodologies, PRA, gender sensitization trainings, etc. These should cover all field and technical staff of the projects, staff of LAs, Village Councils, Farmers Unions, CBOs/VOs, NGOs, communities (including women).
(iii) Continuing collaboration with other UN agencies: It is recommended to continue collaboration and coordination of FAO's work with other UN agencies in assisting the vulnerable groups. UNOHCI has taken the lead in providing guidelines for the coordination process so that a harmonized methodology for application of the Area Based Approach/CPF is adopted by the involved UN agencies. The current work on the same subject being led by UNDG in close collaboration with the Coalition Provisional Authority, FAO, concerned UN Agencies and the World Bank is highly commended as a major step in the right direction.
(iv) Continuing support to stakeholders and LAs participation: It is recommended to continue the participation of vulnerable stakeholders in development activities; e.g. in the planning, design, implementation, community contribution, and monitoring of the above activities. This is also a process of capacity building and training for these groups. Other concerned LAs, dealing with specific vulnerable groups like IDPs, female headed household, disabled, etc. should also continue to participate in the process.
(v) Enhancing access to credit: Under the Oil-for-Food Programme's regulations (e.g. MOU), credit could not be provided as such. However, FAO has provided informal credit, grants and technical assistance to vulnerable groups under the LGF. Further assistance in this regard would be provided under the newly established Development Fund for Iraq. The fund could provide grants/soft loans to communities for income generation activities. Some international and national NGOs are already working on providing credit to stakeholders and beneficiaries and FAO will collaborate in these efforts.
(vi) Improving access to land: There is no land available to rent by vulnerable groups, as all government land has been given on lease. This land cannot be taken away from farmers and given to others, as there are contracts between the Department of Agriculture and the farmers. Even seasonal land is rented and is not available for lease. Some land, however, may be available in collective towns. This possibility calls for conducting detailed studies to be made on the basis of figures of families living in collective towns, who went back to their original villages. Each Governorate has a different situation, and a separate study is, therefore, needed for each. As more land is brought under irrigation, some could become available for giving to selected vulnerable groups, as feasible, due to the lower limit on irrigated landholdings[12].
(vii) Considering provision of livestock to vulnerable households: Preference for land versus livestock as basic assets to be provided to certain vulnerable groups will be examined and actions will follow; e.g. according to one survey, 80% of the farmers preferred livestock.
Traditionally, little or no attention used to be paid in Iraq to gender issues and the main problems and needs faced by women to satisfy (meet) the economic and food security requirements of households and community.
Under the "Oil-for-Food" Programme, FAO (often in close partnership with WFP) implemented a number of projects in the north specifically targeting rural women including war widows (e.g. support to vegetable production, backyard poultry farming and small ruminants raising).
To this end, a strategy paper has been drafted by SDWW to guide FAO's planning for gender mainstreaming in the design and implementation of its assistance projects. A gender expert shall be fielded to Iraq, as soon as the situation permits, to initiate data collection (disaggregated by gender) in the agriculture sector, conduct a socio-economic and gender analysis and formulate a plan for institutional capacity building with focus on training and workshops. The following are some of main findings of the strategy:
Women's multiple roles have generally been ignored, with no specific targeting of women- headed households, who still represent a major vulnerable group in the country. In 2000, WFP estimated that the target group of women-headed rural households represented about 40 000 people in Erbil alone. Women-headed households and widows in particular constitute a considerable percentage of the total rural households and are increasing, as a result of men being killed and forced displacement and migration to urban areas.
According to a 2002 FAO Socio-economic survey of the Iraqi northern Governorates of Dohuk, Erbil and Sulainmaniyah, about 91 percent of the households are headed by men and 9 percent by women. This situation may be attributed to the high level of men killed or forced to leave the area. The survey also reveals that among all household members in the three Governorates the male and female proportion is the same (50 percent each). More than fifty percent (57 percent) of the household heads are illiterate in the three Governorates and still 30 percent of surveyed households did not send their children to school, due to lack of financial resources and children's work on farms. No updated information on female-headed households is currently available (since March 2003), but the numbers are expected to increase.
In general, there is a major data and knowledge gap on socio-economic and gender issues. No data disaggregated by sex or gender was available in recent years for small farmers and/or vulnerable groups. Moreover, there is no available information on the institutional set-up and human capacity of the post-war Iraqi government. Even prior to the military intervention, there was no tradition of informal community-based groups and organizations, with the exception of the formal village councils and some farmers' unions.
In 1998, FAO and WFP initiated a Programme in the north of Erbil to assist female-headed households, and since 2000 some activities in Meruz to support resettlements of IDPs were put in place. WFP with FAO's technical assistance, set up on a pilot basis, three groups of poor women-headed households involved in vegetable production, backyard poultry farming and small ruminants or carpet weaving. An integrated pilot scheme for resettling IDPs was started in the northern mountainous areas of northern Iraq, integrating de-mining, housing, agricultural support and rural infrastructure activities.
NGOs support to rural women is minimal in the region and most of the NGOs operating in rural areas are typically welfare-type institutions, with objectives geared to education, health, and family planning. A few NGOs have been active in promoting small-scale income-generating activities for women. These initiatives tended to benefit only a very small number of women and were limited to traditional activities such as sewing, embroidery, textile manufacture and small-scale animal husbandry projects.
Under the multi-disciplinary follow-up work, FAO appreciates the vital role played by Iraqi women in agriculture and rural production; and will analyze gender specific constraints in setting up the strategic measures for the transition towards sustainable agricultural development in the country.
Women and girls are affected differently from men and boys in an armed conflict situation. They are often more vulnerable, due to their lower social and economic status. In this context, gender analysis can help to clarify the specific needs, vulnerabilities and coping strategies of men and women, so that they can be more adequately addressed in response to the emergency situation. This approach helps better targeting and involving women in any programme activity and propose a medium-term strategy for women in rehabilitation. Three types of analysis should be conducted, by the follow-up multi-disciplinary team, prior to the design of rehabilitation activity with a gender perspective. (Specific participatory tools are available in FAO's Socio-economic and gender analysis programme (SEAGA) to carry out this task.) The needed analyses include, inter alia, the following:
Context analysis. This analysis addresses such factors as the economic, environmental, social and institution patterns that can support or constraint rehabilitation and future development. The context of analysis takes into consideration aspects such as the physical organization of the affected area, food security status, type of victims and examines how these factors affect differently men and women.
Livelihood analysis. This analysis addresses the flow of activities and resources through which different socio-economic groups make their living. Aspects that should be analyzed, inter alia, include: livelihood strategies, mobility, crisis coping strategies, work opportunities, and access and control of valuable resources. For this, men and women's activities and coping mechanisms, to maintain or prevent loss of their livelihood assets, are compared.
Stakeholder analysis. This analysis focuses on the identification of different stakeholders, revealing where there is conflict or partnership, as well as priority problems and development opportunities for each socio-economic group. The main emphasis is on the existing and potential institutional structures and mechanisms in place and the potential for supporting different stakeholders and communities.
Levels of analysis. For each of these analyses it is recommended, whenever feasible, to consider three levels: i) field level, analyzing the socio-economic differences between men and women as individuals, households and community; ii) intermediate, focusing on the institutions and services, and iii) macro, including policies and plans at international, national and local levels.
In addition to analyzing the three levels separately, it is important to assess the linkages between them to ensure that women and men's needs and priorities are carefully considered by policy-makers at the intermediate level.
TOWARDS A ROAD MAP
"And before you leave the market-place, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands. For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied."
Kahlil Gibran; "The Prophet";
1926; p 49
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[11] This section draws on
the SDA working paper on the subject presented in the FAO three-year programme,
FAO, TCES, Rome 2003. [12] The Department of Agriculture is planning to irrigate the area. This will reduce the number of donums per person. Farmers would keep 20 donums of rain fed and 10 donums of irrigated land, and could be willing to return the rest to the government. [13] This section draws on the material provided by SDWW. |
