In 2017, conflict in Iraq caused new displacements, while other people returned home as areas became safe. At the end of 2017, 2.6 million people remained displaced, and 3.2 million people had returned home since January 2014.

FAO worked with affected communities, focusing on elderly people, people with a disability and families headed by women, to increase access to fresh foods, boost incomes and build skills. Activities both immediately and sustainably improved food security, nutrition, income generation and livelihoods.

Cash-for-Work is a short-term intervention used by assistance organizations to provide temporary employment in public projects (such as rehabilitating irrigation canals, clearing nurseries or re-building infrastructure) to the most vulnerable crisis-affected population. The methodology is relatively new, but its use has become increasingly common in food insecure, disaster-affected or post-conflict environments.

Four projects have been implemented in four provinces (DhiQar, Kurdistan, Nasiriyah, Inbar) at a total cost of 21million U.S. dollars. These projects aimed at creating jobs and increase income levels of households in the targeted communities through the promotion and support of small and cottage industries.

In collaboration with the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, FAO aimed at creating jobs in the rural areas in the middle and south of Iraq and support food security through the development of modern plantations programs for the cultivation of date palm, including tissue culture techniques in the laboratory of appropriate management system for integrated pest control.