Successful Agribusiness Training Returns to Further Promote Economic Equality and Food Security in Gawilan Refugee Camp

Tucked away in Duhok Governorate and about 90 minutes northwest of the capital Erbil, Gawilan is the most remote of the KRI’s camps. Since 2013, several organizations have worked collaboratively to ensure refugees in Gawilan receive essential services and support to improve their living conditions, but the Camp’s remoteness causes a barrier to economic mobility, and it has the highest unemployment rate of the KRI camps. What’s more, in the last year, Gawilan absorbed several hundred families displaced due to the closure of some nearby refugee camps, putting more strain on resources and infrastructure and threatening to create even more barriers to independence for the camp’s inhabitants. 

The systemic problems that Gawilan Refugee Camp is grappling with are at the heart of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) 2023-2024 project titled "Emergency livelihood support to mitigate the food insecurity crisis among vulnerable peoples in Iraq" funded by the government of Japan. As part of the project, UNIDO established an agribusiness training programme, geared toward empowering Syrian refugee women at Gawilan Refugee Camp with viable skills in the field of goat husbandry. A rekindling of a 2019 project, the Gawilan dairy goat business programme had a goal of upskilling 53 women living in the camp, the majority of whom are single mothers. The initiative was designed to equip its participants with the knowledge and resources necessary to successfully raise goats and manage a small business, ultimately contributing to improved livelihoods and food security in the region.

The intensive six-day programme taught a broad range of hands-on skills from goat breeding to health management to hygiene. With the goal of equipping the participants with practical career paths, the programme also taught a variety of entrepreneurial skills, including budgeting, record-keeping, and marketing strategies. 

Qudrat Abdullah Shbli participated in the 2019 dairy goat business programme and is a testament to the programme's long-term impact. The 38 years old found herself in Gawilan with her husband and six children after they were forced to flee northern Aleppo, Syria, in 2014. Qudrat had not worked outside of the home in Syria, and her husband owned a successful bakery business which afforded the family a comfortable life. Like so many refugees living within Gawilan, neither Qudrat nor her husband were able to secure work despite their best efforts. Following the completion of her training, Qudrat received two goats and two kids. She now has eight goats and a successful small business selling yogurt and cheese. 

Reflecting on the impact the programme had had on her and her family, Qudrat said, “I escaped poverty and kept myself busy with goat farming. I have become financially independent and can support my family thanks to this project.” Quadrat said that her sales of cheese and yogurt had been steadily increasing, and she is currently saving about 40,000 dinars per month. 

Fatima Abdul Rahman Ali, a 44-year-old divorcee, just completed the programme this year and is excited for the opportunity to live a more stable life. She fled Syria in 2019 with her four daughters and had little work experience when she arrived in Iraq. She did what she could to support her children, taking up some work in cleaning and potato farming, but could not find an opportunity for sustainable income. 

Fatima said she enrolled in the programme for the chance to improve her financial situation and to support her family, but also out of excitement about the idea of raising goats. “This project has changed my mindset,” Fatima said. “Working with animals has been good for me.”

After completing the training, Fatima received two goats along with their kids, sufficient feed for several months, and all the necessary tools and equipment for milking and dairy production. She is currently working to maintain and winterize her goat barn and looks forward to putting her training into action soon and reaping the benefits of the programme by selling goat milk. “I hope to support my family by relying on myself and on this project,” she says.