Iraqi Farm Tractors Repaired After 30 Years of Neglect

(Erbil, Iraq) - A joint effort between USAID and the Agriculture Reconstruction and Development Program for Iraq (ARDI) is nearing completion on a $28.9 million tractor repair and renovation program. Thirty years of wars, sanctions and a tyrannical regime silenced thousands of farm tractors.
After inspecting 10,000 tractors across the country, 5,000 were deemed repairable.
Tractor owners are not charged for the repairs.
USAID has partnered with Case New Holland and Massey Ferguson - whose brands make up the largest share of agricultural machinery in Iraq - to establish 14 workshops across the country.
Staffed by 180 trained Iraqi mechanics and using American international distribution and supply channels, these repair centers are serving the wheat and barley producing regions of Baghdad, Dohuk, Ninewa, Erbil, Wassit and the Sulaymaniyah regional governorates.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and President Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan regional government toured the repair shop in Erbil.
"This is tremendous. We need to get these tractors back out in the fields so that Iraq’s agriculture can flourish once again," said Khalilzad.
Sangir Suad Nafie is the manager of the Modern Iraq Company for Trading Agencies in Erbil. His shop has repaired more than 430 Model 780 Fiats which is under the Case New Holland brand.
"We’ve trained several Iraqi mechanics at the New Holland factory in Turkey under this program," said Nafie. "Now they have the skills to work in this industry for a lifetime."
Tractor owners have been bringing their machines into these shops for the last 9-months. Repairs range from engine and transmission overhauls to the replacement of brakes and starters.
The program delivers multiple benefits for tractor owners and dealerships alike.
Greater production in the field is leading to increased revenue for the farmer. Many farmers are earning additional service revenue by renting out their refurbished tractors to adjacent farms.
Increased farm revenue bodes well for dealers who hope to see a rise in sales of other farm equipment, implements and repair services. This program will directly expand cultivated lands by more than 111,000 acres. Agriculture officials estimate that 5,000 working tractors will help produce more than 67,500 metric tons of additional wheat, generating $4.7 million in annual grain sales.
Photos and story by Paul McKellips, US Department of State, Public Affairs GO Team, on assignment in Erbil, Iraq.