Iraq’s agriculture graduates struggle for jobs despite farming push
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Agriculture graduates in Iraq are struggling to find work despite government efforts to revive the country’s agricultural sector through development projects, land reforms, and hiring initiatives.
Thousands of students graduate annually from Iraq’s agriculture colleges. Among them is Hussein Ali, a graduate of Mosul University’s College of Agriculture and Forestry, who told Shafaq News that he had failed to secure work in state institutions or the agricultural field since graduating in 2021.
“Every time we are told to wait or apply for a new hiring round without knowing when it will come.”
The Planning Ministry says unemployment has fallen to around 13%, although estimates for youth unemployment range between 20% and 25%, while hundreds of thousands of university degree holders continue entering the market each year.
Khattab Al-Dhamin, a professor of agricultural economics at Tikrit University, explained to our agency that agricultural study programs, including both daytime and evening courses, often fail to match actual hiring needs. Demand for agriculture specialists remains limited across government institutions and companies, leading to an accumulation of unemployed degree holders and declining enrollment in some agriculture colleges.
Several colleges have also restructured departments in recent years because of falling student numbers, threatening the continuity of certain specializations, he added.
According to UN Development Programme estimates, private businesses employ roughly 40% to 50% of Iraq’s workforce, but largely rely on informal contracts, low wages, and limited job security, reducing their appeal to young professionals.
“A large part of the problem is the absence of appointments in the agricultural sector, whether in government or the private sector,” former parliamentary Agriculture Committee member and agricultural engineer Zozan Kochar clarified, adding that coordination between universities and market demand remained weak. Additionally, funding directed toward agriculture remains limited compared with the oil sector, although Iraq “possesses fertile land and climate diversity.”
Confidence in the sector has also been undermined by recurring disputes over farmer compensation and support payments, with Iraqi farmers staging repeated protests in Baghdad in recent weeks over unpaid government dues.
Planning Ministry spokesperson Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi previously said the government had developed a labor market roadmap in coordination with the Higher Education Ministry to improve compatibility between university output and market needs through improving the business environment, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, expanding financing programs, and strengthening education and vocational training links with market demand. Public works programs were also being used to create “rapid employment opportunities,” particularly for youth and vulnerable groups, in partnership with international organizations and private companies.
Deputy Labor Minister Huda Sajjad also revealed that authorities were working on legislation to establish a Higher Council for Training aimed at expanding vocational skills and linking training programs to local economic needs, while Iraq’s National Investment Commission announced 97 opportunities in August 2025 covering crop production, livestock, irrigation systems, mechanization, food processing, and land reclamation projects.
Additional support measures emerged through Iraq’s agricultural land lease law. In February 2025, Parliamentary Agriculture Committee head Faleh Al-Khazali stated that degree holders could receive plots of up to 5 hectares under Law No. 24 of 2024, with ownership possible after five to 10 years of project implementation. The legislation would expand agricultural areas to around 1.7 million to 1.8 million hectares after broadening activity to include orchards and livestock production.
Read more: Iraq: 250K graduates annually amid 20% youth unemployment
