World Grain - September 2016 - 26

COUNTRY FOCUS

5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000

2014-15

2013-14

2012-13

2011-12

2010-11

2009-10

2008-09

2007-08

2006-07

0

2005-06

26

Iraqi wheat imports
(1,000 tonnes wheat equivalent)

2004-05

70% of requirements," the WFP said. "However, quality issues have dogged the distributions, as domestic, low-protein
wheat from southern and central Iraq has not proved satisfactory to PDS recipients. Even if the 2016 domestic wheat crop
exceeds 4 million tonnes and domestic procurement exceeds
3 million tonnes, domestic wheat needs to be blended with
LPSRUWHGZKHDWWR\LHOGDFFHSWDEOHÀRXUIRUEUHDGPDNLQJ´
The WFP also said that PDS effectively ran out of rice at
the end of 2015.
"Rice distribution was meeting 70% of requirements in December 2015 but distribution fell to 1% in February 2016,"
according to the bulletin. "Unless additional purchases are
made, PDS will provide under one-third of rice requirements
in 2016."
A report by Emmeline Saint, humanitarian consultant, published by Oxfam in March, described the Public Distribution
6\VWHPWKDWSURYLGHVZKHDWÀRXUWRWKHSRSXODWLRQ
"The PDS is a government subsidy scheme that was created in 1991 as a mechanism for the distribution of locally
produced food and imports (initially in the context of UN
sanctions to ensure the availability of food)," the report said.
"It is supervised by the Ministry of Trade and provides subsidized food commodities to most of the Iraqi population,
using ration cards. The government-run General Company
for Grain Trading (GCGT) is in charge of providing adequate amounts of cereals to PDS cardholders. The PDS is
currently not targeting only the poorest households: every
registered resident in Iraq is entitled to receive monthly rations. In theory, the ration card provides the following commodities (quantities are per person per month): locally proGXFHGZKHDWÀRXUNJULFHNJVXJDUNJYHJHWDEOH
RLO  OLWHU DQG SRZGHUHG PLON WKUHH SDFNV RI  JUDPV
each). Grain mills are mostly in the private sector and grind
wheat under contracts with the GCGT."
The report focused on the northern areas affected by conÀLFWSDUWLFXODUO\WKH1LQHZDSODLQV
"The Ministry of Trade used to contract around two dozen
ÀRXUPLOOVDFURVV1LQHZDEXWPRVWRIWKHVHDUHQRZLQ,6,6
controlled areas," the report noted. "There are currently only
4 to 5 mills operating in the target areas. Imported wheat is
blended with domestic wheat prior to milling. Millers have
a contract with the government (via the GCGT) to produce
ZKHDWÀRXUIRU3'6UDWLRQVDQGDUHQRORQJHUDOORZHGWREX\
JUDLQDQGVHOOZKHDWÀRXULQGHSHQGHQWO\6LQFHWKHEHJLQQLQJ
of 2015, millers have been responsible for transporting wheat
from silos to the mills and from the mills to the local PDS food
DJHQWV 3UHYLRXVO\ WUDQVSRUWHUV ZHUH VSHFL¿FDOO\ FRQWUDFWHG
by the government for that purpose, but the PDS has not been
DEOH WR VXVWDLQ WKDW V\VWHP 7UDQVSRUWLQJ ZKHDW ÀRXU WR WKH
newly liberated areas on their own budgets is proving particularly challenging for millers."
For the study, three millers were interviewed, producing an
DYHUDJHRIEHWZHHQDQGWRQQHVRIÀRXUDPRQWK

Source: Foreign Agricultural Service, Official USDA Estimates

³6WRFNV DUH UHSOHQLVKHG DW WKH EHJLQQLQJ RI HDFK PRQWK
with support from the GCGT," the report said. "Millers only
grind the amount that they receive. Usually, the volumes received do not need a whole month to be milled, and all mills
have the capacity to mill more."
2YHUDOO ,UDT GLG KDYH DSSUR[LPDWHO\  ÀRXU PLOOLQJ
SODQWVEHIRUHWKHFRQÀLFWDOWKRXJKWKHUHDUHUHSRUWVWKDWÀRXU
mills have been destroyed by military activity. According to
the Oxfam report, the host communities and the displaced perVRQV LW ORRNV DW ³DOO FRPSOHPHQW WKHLU ZKHDW ÀRXU QHHGV E\
DFTXLULQJLPSRUWHGZKHDWÀRXUIURPORFDOWUDGHUV7KHEHWWHU
RII KRVW KRXVHKROGV DQG ,'3V ZLWKRXW EDNLQJ HTXLSPHQW RU
those with two or less members in the household usually buy
EUHDGIURPEDNHULHV´
The investigators interviewed traders who sell imported
ZKHDWÀRXUIURP7XUNH\
³:KHDW ÀRXU LV ERXJKW IURP 7XUNH\ E\ LPSRUWHUV DQG
wholesalers at IQD 370,000-450,000 per tonne, then sold to
ODUJHWUDGHUVDW,4'SHUWRQQHDQG¿QDOO\
RQWREDNHULHVDQGYLOODJHWUDGHUVDW,4'
SHU WRQQH´ WKH UHSRUW VDLG ³$ NJ EDJ RI ZKHDW ÀRXU
is sold by village traders at IQD 25,000-35,000 (equivaOHQWWR,4'SHUWRQQH%DNHULHVEX\RQO\
LPSRUWHGZKHDWÀRXUPDLQO\IURP7XUNH\&XUUHQWO\WKHLU
main challenge is shortages of fuel and gas, as the government does not provide fuel support as regularly as it used
to. Electricity cuts are frequent and fuel is needed to operate generators."
7KHUHSRUWH[SODLQHGWKDWPRUHKRXVHKROGVDUHEDNLQJWKHLU
own bread as a result of the economic crisis.
Chris Lyddon is World Grain's European correspondent. He may be
contacted at: chris.lyddon@ntlworld.com.
We want to hear from you - Send comments and inquiries to
worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of WG articles, e-mail reprints@sosland.com.

September 2016 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - September 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - September 2016
