Livestock farming solutions for a sustainable development of marshlands areas of South Iraq

The Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Systems of University of Florence has been carrying out training activities in the South Iraq in the Provinces of Dhi Qar and Basra since 2006. All activities have been supported by practical demonstrative actions, such as realization of pilot interventions, equipment and plant supplying and installation, design and building of farm structures.Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has funded the main projects, but also private companies have supported specific projects on agricultural field. Within the project “Rational management of water resources for agricultural development of rural areas in South Iraq” finished at the end of 2013, different training courses were kept on several subjects of agricultural engineering and ten pilot interventions were arranged during courses. In this paper the authors aim at remarking the main activities carried out to favor the development of rural areas in the South of Iraq, especially placed in the area of marshlands, by means of simple farming solutions. All the proposed interventions have been designed taking into account some key points, such as the development of sustainable farming systems, the protection of the environment, the empowerment of women role. Among the examples of activities presented in the paper, a particular importance is given to the simple solutions for poultry breeding, which can be spread in the area of South Iraq, using self-build structures. Solutions for buffalo breeding are the subject of a project in progress in 2015, entitled “Sustainable development of buffalo breeding in rural areas of South Iraq”. The last part of paper is reserved topresent the activities carried out to favor an improvement in the breeding techniques, with particular reference to the villages placed on marshlands, where traditional farming systems are still strongly rooted.