Sustainable Employment Opportunities Through Support to Agriculture and SMEs in Hawija, Kirkuk-Iraq Hawijacity lays in the center of Hawija district and is part of Kirkuk governorate. Hawija city and Kirkuk city lay approximately 45 kilometers apart. The district of Hawija, consisting of 450 villages and cities, was occupied by ISIS in June 2014 and liberated in October 2017. Prior to ISIS occupation, Hawija district was one of the largest agricultural centers in Iraq, with the largest cotton production and the second largest production of fruits, vegetables, wheat, barley and corn in the country. Hawija’s Department of Agriculture had at least four warehouses (containing agricultural machinery, seeds and fertilizers), a  Department  of  Veterinary  Services, and an agricultural  research center,  producing  seeds  and saplings that were exported to all governorates in Iraq. With its proximity to the Little Zab River and the two water stations through which filtered water was provided through a piped network, Hawija district was well suited for agricultural production and the majority of livelihoods therefore also depended on the agricultural sector. Hawija district has a complex socio-political history with many intercommunal conflicts. Before 1950 the district consisted predominately of Kurds and Turkmen, but with the ‘Hawija Project’ creating a new irrigation river and therefore new farming opportunities, thousands of Arab Sunni families migrated to Hawija. The Arabization program of  Saddam Hussein (in  1970s) pushed many more Arab  families  to  move  to  the  oil-rich  Kirkuk governorate, often at the expense of the non-Arab communities, and making Hawija a predominantly (Sunni) Arab area. After Saddam Hussein, a Shiite government was installed. Under this government, the position of the Sunni population became marginalized. The Shiite government expelled them from working for the state and reduced their economic opportunities and access to services. This created a fertile ground for extremist organizations to bloom. Hawija became one of Al-Qaeda’s strongholds during the US invasion (2003-2011), with ISIS taking control of the entire Hawija city and half of Kirkuk Governorate in 2014. Life under ISIS was extremely restricted, with civilians forcibly abiding to the Salafi interpretation of Islam. The people of Hawija were not allowed to move around the city freely or to leave the city. As people were not allowed to cross city borders, it became difficult to acquire the right inputs and accordingly production costs and food prices went up. The industrial neighborhood with many family businesses however was still functioning, may it be less than before ISIS, but enough to feed peoples’families. Both the educational and healthcare system deteriorated tremendously, as many staff were replaced by ISIS staff or those who pledged allegiance to ISIS, providing access only to those who sympathized with ISIS. In September 2014, The Global Coalition against Daesh (the Arabic abbreviation for ISIS) was established to tackle ISIS on all fronts, to dismantle its networks and counter its global ambitions. As part the coalition’s military campaign, thousands of air strikes were conducted in both Syria and Iraq. On the night of 2nd–3rd June 2015, two F-16 fighter jets dropped their missiles on an ISIS factory for vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the heart of the industrial neighborhood. When these projectiles metan estimated 18,000 kilos of explosives stored in the factory, it caused an enormous secondary explosion supposedly felt even in Kirkuk. Within a two-kilometer radius from the point of contact, buildings were completely destroyed and within a ten-kilometer radius buildings sustained damages to varying degrees. As  many  unregistered  IDPs  lived  in  the  industrial  area, search-and-rescue  operations were limited,  rubble clearance were nihil and official documentation lacking, the number of lost lives is unclear until this date yet estimated in hundreds. Civilian harm caused by the strike also includes physical injuries, psychological trauma and extensive damage to urban infrastructure. As the strike happened in an area controlled by ISIS and remained under ISIS occupation afterwards, the impact on civilians was tremendous, as people could not access the kind of medical care in the ISIS-system that was needed to ameliorate medical conditions and save lives. Many people lost limbs like hands, arms, or legs, due to the direct impact, but also due to the lack of treatment or medicine. The Hawija  community  has identified psychological  trauma to  be  a  continuing  overwhelming  problem  for everyone, but especially for children and youth. This includes long-term exhaustion, panic attacks, feelings of fear and anxiety. Youth and children also face additional challenges, as many of them have become illiterate due to the limited access to education during ISIS, lack of teachers because of the displacement caused by the strike (sometimes 1 teacher to 700 students)and the strict age limit per class (once a student crosses that age limit, he or she cannot re-enter the system at a later stage when older). Youth have also dropped out to work to support the family income. The strike on the industrial neighborhood ruined most of what was Hawija’s economic center, with at least 1,200 shops, factories, offices and other workplaces reduced to rubble. People’s livelihoods were ruined overnight, as it left families’ breadwinners deceased, shops destroyed and people disabled to the extent that they could not work anymore. Former MSME owners now earn an average of 5 USD per day, while the Cash Working Group in Iraq has set a rate of 20 USD for unskilled workers. Given high rate of unemployment, civilians have no option other than to accept this lower daily wage. An estimated 1,900 persons were employed in the factories and businesses inside the industrial neighborhood, but with the lack of income opportunities, many people were destined to leave Hawija. Departure of merchants meant that food products had to be smuggled into Hawija (under ISIS), raising the prices, and fresh food products such as fruits and vegetables were not available at all. Over 46,000 people have been displaced from Hawija based on IOMs Displacement Tracking Matrix data, with some of them returning to Hawija after the liberation from ISIS in 2017, others when the government closed all IDP camps and the rest finding new homes in other governorates. Before the strike and especially before ISIS, Hawija represented an important agricultural center for Iraq. This function was greatly affected by the strike. The supply of irrigated water, which the agricultural sector heavily relies on, was reduced by an estimated 25 per cent due to damages of the strike, as well as by the lack of maintenance of irrigation canals later on. Simultaneously, since the industrial neighborhood was destroyed, there was no place to repair agricultural machinery. Kirkuk city was the closest place to do so, approximately 45 kilometers away. These challenges combined with the effects of a water scarcity crisis due to record low levels of rainfall, poor water resource management, and reductions in water flow in to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from upstream countries, resulted in a decrease to 70 per cent of agricultural production in Hawija. The most affected crops include wheat, barley, and corn. The agricultural research center was directly impacted as it was only 300 meters away from the point of contact of the strike. 140 out of 520 dunams (representing 140,000 out of 520,000 square meters) were directly burnt from the explosion. Other research facilities were partially damaged (greenhouse for strawberries and five plastic houses used for tunnel farming for vegetables).Prior to 2014, this research center used to produce 1.2 million saplings a year and now is only able to product 200,000 saplings a year. In 2019, four and half years after the night of the attack, the Dutch government admitted responsibility for the strike and provided a 4.4M EUR voluntary compensation supporting ‘projects for the community of Hawija’. The Dutch government has outsourced this money to IOM and UNDP. The people of Hawija have requested a formal apology and individual financial compensation from the Dutch government. While the airstrike occurred over six years ago, the industrial neighborhood itself still lies largely in ruins. Many of those affected have not been able to return to their financial situation as it was. There is only some economic activity visible within the area as some civilians are starting up their businesses again in a basic way, opening for example small workshops. As the Director of INGO PAX mentioned during a public debate, based on the report‘ After the Strike: Exposing the Civilian Harm Effects of the 2015 Dutch Airstrike on Hawija’ on 13th of April 2022: “More striking is not the destruction of the buildings, but the destruction of the society. And of course, this is very influenced by ISIS occupation, but very much so by the effects of this bomb. Because people have not been able to rebuild their lives, because there are no livelihoods”. As Hawija before the war was a prosperous community and an agricultural center for the rest of the region and country, supporting people to rebuild their livelihoods through agriculture and agribusiness interventions, especially as a consortium of Dutch and local partners specialized in agri-ecosystem development in fragile and  (post-)conflict settings, it is a  sense  of  duty  and responsibility to use our expertise for rebuilding and resilience. Main objectives of the project are: 

1. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AND ACCESS TO FINANCE AIMING TO SUPPORT AND REVITALIZE THE AGRICULTURE AND AGRIBUSINESS SECTOR THROUGH TRAININGS, MENTORING, AND PROVISION OF SMALL GRANTS.

2.  SKILLS  DEVELOPMENT  AND  ACCESS  TO  FINANCE  AIMING  TO  SUPPORT  SMES  OWNERS  IN DIFFERENT FIELDS THROUGH CAPACITY BUILDING, COACHING AND PROVISION OF SMALL GRANTS Host-community and returnees, SMEs, farmers, PWD