Food Security In IRAQ

Samir Albadri

Ph.D student

Southern Illinois University

Agricultural Systems

samiralbadri@siu.edu

Food Security

• Food Security: Exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (World Food Summit, 1996).

Information about Iraq

Capitaland largest city

Area Population Rivers Languages

Baghdad Total 437,072 km2 2014 estimate 36,004,552 2 Arabic

169,234 sq mi Density 82.7/km2 Tigris

Water (%) 1.1 183.9/sq mi Euphrates

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture 21.6% Agriculture - products Dates, barley, rice, vegetables, wheat, cotton;

cattle, sheep, poultryIndustry 18.7% Industries petroleum, chemicals,

textiles, leather, construction materials, food processing,

fertilizer, metal fabrication/processing

services 59.8% Different /

1990 Iraq established the Public Distribution System (PDS) Oil-for-Food Programmer

Material Amount

wheat (9 kilos)

rice (3 kilos)

sugar (2 kilos)

tea (200 grams)

vegetable oil (1.25 kilo)

detergent (500 grams)

pulses (250 grams)

adult milk (250 grams)

soap (250 grams)

infant formula (1.8 kilo)

-Which ensured that every citizen received a monthly ration of

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan

2003Has praised the Oil-for-Food programmer which closed on 21 November was the only humanitarian programmer ever to have been funded entirely from resources belonging to the nation it was designed to help.

The cost

Each Iraqi is entitled to a monthly food basket for a nominal fee of 250 Iraqi dinars ($0.216).The food basket is distributed, and fees collected, through approximately 45,000 “food and flour agents

This ration should supply 2,200 kcal per person per day.However, shortfalls in distributions have affected the country. Data from WFP field monitors indicate that the PDS supplied an average of 60 percent of the caloric requirements during 2006. This dropped to 51 percent during 2007.

FAO

FAO cites Iraq as one of 37 countries in crisis requiring external assistance

Population Pyramid Graph

http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/region.php?N=%20Results%20&T=12&A=separate&RT=0&Y=2000&R=-1&C=IZ

Population growth 2000-2012

http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?v=21&c=iz&l=en

2003

-In the push to ensure greater food security in Iraq, WFP and COSIT launched the country’s first household survey in 2003 to assess both food security and vulnerability.- That Baseline Food Security Assessment found that, despite the PDS,food insecurity persisted in Iraq for a significant segment of the population who faced serious difficulties accessing food.- Chronic poverty, a lack of job opportunities and inadequatepurchasing power were all contributing to Iraq’s overall food insecurity.

We need to answer these 5 Q

1- Who are the food insecure?2- Why are they food insecure?3- How many are food insecure?4- Where do the food insecure live?5- How can we alleviate their suffering from poverty and hunger?

1- Who are the food insecure?

-Food insecure in Iraq can be found in those families with low incomes living in rural areas (69 percent of the food insecure in Iraq)- who have poor or borderline dietary diversity.- The heads of such food insecure households in Iraq are either

unemployed marginal farmers

unskilled laborers

agricultural wage earners

Women low percentage

Old age

26 percent 25 percent 15 percent 5 percent 14 percent 15 percent

The chronic malnutrition rate of children in food insecure householdswas estimated as 33 percent

-Chronic malnutrition affects the youngest children aged 12 monthsto 23 months most severely. Acute malnutrition in Iraq is also alarming with 9 percent of Iraqichildren being acutely malnourished. -The highest rate (13 percent) of wasting was found inchildren aged 6 to <12 months old followed by 12 percent for those aged 12 months to 23 months.

2- Why are they food insecure?

1- Iraq isn't stabilized politically and economically2- Wealth status- Income and expenditure3- Education level of the head of households4- Geographic location (urban vs. rural)5- Sex of household head (female headed more vulnerable).

3- How many are food insecure?

-That approximately 11 percent (2.6 million people) of the Iraqipopulation were extremely poor and vulnerable to food insecurity and, were the PDS to be discontinued, an additional 3.6 million people would face a high probability of being food insecure.- Despite the fact that the PDS continues to exist, it is increasingly unable to provide adequate food for Iraq’s poorest households

4- Where do the food insecure live?

There is a prevalence of extreme poverty (particularly among women and children in rural areas) and despite the availability of food on the market, the poorest people could not afford to buy it

Percentage of households not receiving PDS commodities from June to October, 2007

Percentage of households receiving late PDS commodities from June to October, 2007

Percentage households prefer receiving financial support instead of the PDS commodities

Household expenditures

• The data showed that 18 percent of the Iraqi population surveyed is spending less than US$1 per capita per day

Working Status of children under 15 years old

5- How can we alleviate their suffering from poverty and hunger?

1- Targeted food assistance to the most vulnerable and food insecure groups;2- Food for training to teach poor mothers childcare and nutrition best practices3- Food for education among the poorest areas to ensure children receive their nutritional requirements and continue attending school, with particular emphasis placed on female attendance4- Scaling up micronutrient programmes including iodine in salt and vitamin A and iron fortification