USAID Invests $3 Million in Iraq's Aquaculture

HILLAH, Iraq, May 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States Agency
for International Development's (USAID) Inma agribusiness program in Iraq will
soon have millions of carp fingerlings ready for delivery to hundreds of fish
farms across central and southern portions of the country, thanks to joint
efforts with the U.S. military, the State Department, and area Iraqi farmers.
Inma is Arabic for "growth."
A $3 million agreement with USAID's Inma Agribusiness Program to purchase
six million fingerlings at a fixed price gave the Euphrates Fish Farm (EFF)
hatchery the down payment it needed to fully resume operation. The fingerlings
have the potential to generate 12 million tons of fish worth approximately $90
million at Iraqi retail markets.
Central Iraq boasts 70 percent of the country's fish farms, but in 2007
only a fraction of these were operational -- and even those were producing
significantly below capacity. Built in the late 1970s, EFF was once one of
Iraq's most modern aquaculture farm and hatchery operations, but it fell into
disrepair and disuse after decades of conflict and sanctions.
Income-generation opportunities will ripple across Babil province as the
new fingerlings are distributed to local fish farms. USAID, the U.S.
military, the State Department, and two fish farmer associations identified
beneficiary farms from the provincial capital of Hillah in the south to North
Babil. Making fingerlings available to farmers who cannot afford to buy them
at current prices augments recent military successes in securing and
stabilizing the area by offering non-violent alternatives for residents to
earn income.
USAID is also working with feed producers to begin manufacturing
high-protein feed that will better sustain newly hatched fish and shorten
their maturation time. Meanwhile, to help meet the urgent demand for the 2008
fish season, the U.S. military contributed 50 tons of the highest-quality
local feed available. Local agriculture and agribusinesses will also benefit
from the EFF's pond overflow. After providing water to the hatchery and fish
ponds, EFF pond outflow is channeled into canals that irrigate thousands of
downstream acres of fruit and vegetable farms. This enables even more local
farmers to resume cultivation and Inma will soon begin helping them improve
their production and marketing.
USAID works to support the entire agribusiness "value chain" of industries
that feed, transport and market fish and produce in Iraq. Putting aquaculture
and agribusiness back on track puts higher quality produce and much-needed
protein into area markets, expands farming opportunities, creates jobs, and
moves Iraq another step closer to securing peace.
For more information about USAID and its programs in Iraq, please visit
www.usaid.gov

Public Information: 202-712-4810

SOURCE U.S. Agency for International Development

Press Office, The United States Agency for International Development,
+1-202-712-4320