The role of financing policies in promoting sustainable agricultural development – Iraq, a case study

To the Board of the Faculty of Management and Economics – Karbala University, which is part of the requirements of obtaining a master’s degree in economics

thesis submitted by the student
Ali Hussein Sharad Awad Al Khazraji

SUPERVISED BY
Assistant Professor Dr. Sarmad Abdul Jabbar, AL khairallah

ABSTRACT:
The research aims to clarify the role of financing policies in sustainable agricultural development in Iraq for the period (2004-2021), which was represented by financial, monetary, and trade policy, as well as financing the Agricultural Cooperative Bank and the Agricultural Initiative, which is the institution responsible for financing the agricultural sector for various purposes. The results of the research showed that there was no clear lending policy for the agricultural sector during the period in question due to the variation in the volume of loans granted from one year to another, in addition to the fact that the growth rate of loans in general was low compared to what was targeted by agricultural development plans, and that there was a decline in agricultural production rates in a way that was not proportionate to Loans provided. The research found that there are a group of factors that hinder the implementation of agricultural financing policies in Iraq, the most important of which is administrative and financial corruption.The research concluded that if the agricultural sector is to contribute a greater percentage to the gross domestic product and agricultural output, the percentage of loans and government support for it must be increased to ensure development and reform in the agricultural sector by modernizing agricultural production methods and improving the level of use of agricultural mechanization and optimal exploitation of water resources, as well as Developing farmers themselves.
The research problem also represented the backwardness of the agricultural sector, its inability to compete and penetrate international markets, its flooding with imported agricultural commodities, and the weak competitive advantage of agricultural commodities. The most important conclusions reached by the researcher are that agricultural financing policy can work to enhance agricultural development by relying on the quality of these Policies, and this is what the standard results showed in that the dependent variable (GDPr) has a significant impact on the independent variables (EGr, AG, IM, ER, IR). The study recommends preparing agricultural plans to promote sustainable agricultural development.