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By Spc. Justin Snyder
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – Leaders gathered at the home of Moayad Al-Shibelym, the former mayor of Mahmudiyah, to celebrate the success of the Mahmudiyah Qada Poultry Association, July 20, 2008.
Iraqi tribal leaders representing seven local tribes, Iraqi security forces, Iraqi poultry famers, Iraqi distinguished guests and 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Soldiers gathered to talk about issues regarding the poultry business in Mahmudiyah and take part in the feast.
"It is amazing what this small dinner has accomplished. You can look around and see representatives of seven different tribes, Sunnis and Shiites, coexisting for one common cause," said David Speidel, agricultural adviser with the embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT). "This is about more than just chicken. They have put aside their differences to focus on change in Iraq and bettering their community."
The delivery of nearly 95,000 baby chicks to the chicken farmers of Mahmudiyah in May brought hope of revival to the once-great, but currently sluggish, poultry business in the province.
"Things were very rough as far as business goes," said Authman Hassan, owner of the Nahrin Poultry Factory. "My factory was not doing well. The coalition forces gave us farmers hope that things would get better."
The progress was more than the farmers expected. The economy is once again rising in Mahmudiyah, and poultry farms are operating without worry.
"No one, not even ourselves, expected to have come this far this fast," said Mahmudiyah Mayor Jabbar Farraj Mullah al-Kilabi. "The economy is once again doing well, and it's helping our infrastructure. Today marks a celebration for everyone, not only for Mahmudiyah, but all of Iraq. "
Distinguished guests consistently referred to this as the completion of "Stage One," acknowledging the celebration marked the beginning of an ongoing project.
The initial focus was on poultry farms. Speidel said the next step in the process is to involve the other aspects of the poultry business such as slaughter houses and feed companies
"When we arrived here, there were around 1,000 coops and hardly any of them were operational," Speidel said. "The only way, up until now, to get chicken was from the independent vendors, and those chickens had a short shelf life."
"If we can get the slaughter houses up and running and make sure that (all) the chicks are receiving the same amount of healthy food ... we can provide fresh-packaged chicken with a longer shelf life. We are working at getting that going to build on what we have already accomplished," he said.
Leaders and guest celebrated the current success and committed to the future.
"It's easy to get to the top of the mountain, but it's not always easy to stay there," Al Kibali said. "Everything here today paints a picture and the image is very clear. We have succeeded, but there is a lot more to come."
| Date Taken: | 07.28.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.28.2008 05:47 |
| Story ID: | 21894 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 275 |
| Downloads: | 231 |
This work, Mahmudiyah Qada Poultry Association celebrates success, by SPC Justin Snyder, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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