Attachments
Erbil, 28 August 2022 - His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture, Engineer Muhammad Karim Al-Khafaji, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative in Iraq, Dr. Salah El-hajj Hassan, the Director of Ninawa Agriculture, Dr. Rabie Youssef and the Senior FAO Livestock Expert, Dr. Chedly Kayouli visited his Eminence Bashar Matti Warda the Archbishop of Chaldean Catholic Church in Erbil as a follow-up to the field visit made to the partners under the EU-funded project: “support to agricultural livelihoods of rural and peri-urban returnees and communities in Nineveh Governorate”, and implemented by FAO in close cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture.
The discussion focused on the activities of FAO in Ninawa and ways to help the returnees who were supported by the project to improve the marketing of their dairy products and possibilities to facilitate the transportation of their improved processed dairy products to Erbil with distribution to hotels and restaurants in Ankawa taken the high demand for such local traditional and special quality products.
H.E. the Minister stressed the importance and success of the project’s interventions, which helped the displaced families that were affected by ISIL conflict to return home, and praised the expertise and support provided by the project team, which contributed to increasing the efficiency and quality of local products, which became world-class standards highlighting the importance of helping families to sell their products in Erbil. The Minister added that he strongly supports agricultural interventions in these liberated areas to support rural women.
His Eminence Bashar Matti Warda praised the efforts of His Excellency the Minister and the Ministry of Agriculture, and the outstanding achievements that resulted from the interventions of the project. He stressed that what FAO has achieved in these liberated areas in creating job opportunities and increasing income helped the displaced and returnee families to settle in their home areas. The Archbishop indicated his entire support to these women groups to access new markets in Erbil or even for export abroad where there are a high number of Iraqi immigrants.
Finally, FAO Representative in Iraq, Dr. Salah El-hajj Hassan thanked and appreciated the Archbishop's efforts in supporting the families involved in the project and indicated that these results would not have been possible without the support of His Excellency the Minister, the ministry's work team, and the European Union funding. He stressed that FAO Iraq efforts will continue to support farmers and women groups. He added that there are other interventions with regard to crop component especially the cultivation, harvesting and processing of olives. He concluded with FAO commitment to make all possible efforts to support Iraqi farmers.
Contact:
Salah ElHajjHassan, FAO Representative in Iraq | Salah.ElHajjHassan@fao.org|