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.

The projects set up training centers, including the provision of facilities for training in various food and food technologies. New approaches were developed for the training of trainers and a large number of training materials have been developed. A total of six booklets on food processing, including the processing of vegetables, whole grains, fruits, dairy products, and beekeeping have been produced. All brochures have been translated into Arabic.

More than 250 instructors – including 80 women -received training courses on different food sectors, including training courses on food processing and dairy products.

One of the main achievements of the project lies in the training of personnel: more than 6,000 beneficiaries have been trained– a large majority of women –and thus enables them to start their own mall industry. Equipment was also distributed to individual beneficiaries for the processing of food products.