Farmers in Rabia protest the suspension of the North Al-Jazeera Irrigation Project. The demonstrators, including tribal leaders and local officials, called on the Iraqi government to increase water releases from Turkey to save their crops. (Photo by 964media)
Nineveh
Farmers in Rabia protest suspension of North Al-Jazeera Irrigation Project
NINEVEH — Farmers in the Rabia sub district of Tal Afar staged a protest Wednesday against the suspension of the North Al-Jazeera Irrigation Project, which supplies water to agricultural lands in the area.
The decision to halt the project, citing low water levels in Mosul Dam, is expected to have severe consequences for local farmers, affecting 240,000 dunams (59,305 acres) of wheat, barley, potatoes, tomatoes, and other crops, according to Nineveh provincial council member Mohammed Huraiss, who joined the protest.
The project is a major agricultural infrastructure system in Nineveh Governorate, designed to provide irrigation water to farmlands in Rabia and surrounding areas. Launched in the early 1990s, the project sustained extensive damage during the ISIS occupation, halting farming activities in the region.
“This decision will cause massive financial losses for farmers,” Huraiss told 964media. “The farmers are appealing to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and the minister of water resources to intervene immediately and work on increasing water releases from Turkey to save their crops.”
Farmers in Rabia say the suspension of the irrigation project threatens their livelihoods and could devastate the local economy.
“The news of the suspension was a shock to all farmers,” said Hussein Shahada, a farmer in Rabia. “Rabia is Iraq’s food basket. We have 230,000 dunams [56,834 acres] of wheat and 25,000 dunams [6,177 acres] of potatoes, and we have already imported fertilizers and seeds from European and neighboring countries. Now, we are facing an economic catastrophe that affects 75,000 people.”
Shahada warned that 50,000 people could lose their jobs and called on the Iraqi government to take action.
“We urge the prime minister and the Iraqi government to negotiate with Turkey to increase water releases and prevent this crisis,” he said.
In April 2024, Iraq and Turkey signed a ten-year agreement to improve water management of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, focusing on irrigation and resource-sharing. This followed Turkey’s temporary doubling of Tigris, which Mosul dam built on, water releases in 2023 to ease Iraq’s water crisis. However, Turkey’s 22-dam Southeastern Anatolia Project has already cut sharply into Iraq’s water supply, with the Ilisu Dam expected to further reduce Tigris inflows.