Shafaq News- Baghdad
Tens of thousands of hectares of fertile Iraqi farmland have been converted into housing, reducing local food production and increasing dependence on imports, agricultural expert Khattab Al-Dhamen told Shafaq News.
The losses have particularly affected land used for vegetables, tomatoes, potatoes, and other widely consumed crops, “draining foreign currency and eliminating agricultural jobs.”
Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Qusay Al-Hattab explained that farmland cannot legally be bulldozed or converted to residential or other uses without approval from all relevant authorities. Applications are reviewed by a committee headed by the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, while provincial authorities are responsible for stopping and removing violations.
The ministry has also “filed lawsuits” over agricultural land encroached upon during periods of instability under ISIS control.
Meanwhile, Parliament’s Agriculture, Water Resources, Marshes, and Environment Committee chairman Bayez Ismail Zarrari described the loss of productive land as a direct threat to food security. He argued that urban development should be confined to areas that have already lost their agricultural function.
Iraqi regulations include Resolution No. 634 of 1981, governing neglected orchards, and Cabinet Decision No. 50 of 2016, which requires authorities to stop unauthorized bulldozing and conversion of agricultural land.
Al-Dhamen linked the expansion to a housing deficit exceeding two million units, annual population growth of more than one million people, and high property prices, particularly in Baghdad, urging the government to build serviced communities on desert or non-agricultural land instead of allowing residential growth to consume productive farmland.