Abstract
The 4-H volunteer program is a new concept to the people of Iraq, for decades the country has been closed to western ideas. Iraqi culture and the Arabic customs have not embraced the volunteer concept and even more the concept of scientific animal production technologies designed to increase profitability for producers. In 2011 the USAID-Inma Agribusiness program teamed with the Iraq 4-H program to create youth and community entrepreneurship opportunities for widowed families. Iraq 4-H provided the youth members and adult volunteers and Inma provided the financial capital (livestock) and the animal science training program for the volunteers. The purpose of this study was to measure the knowledge level gained through intensive animal science training for Iraqi 4-H volunteers. Researchers designed and implemented a pre and post test to measure the knowledge of fifteen volunteers who participated in the three day course. The pretest exposed a general lack of animal science knowledge of all volunteers; over 80% of the participants incorrectly answered the questions. However, the post-test indicated positive change in the participants understanding of animal science production principles.
Highlights
Iraq is part of an ancient land that spans the area known historically as Mesopotamia
Over the last eleven years, Iraq has been through a massive military conflict that started in 2003 with the United States invading Iraq and toppling the dictator, Saddam Hussein
This conflict ended in December 2011, but violence continues to plague Iraq with hundreds of Iraqi’s being killed each year (The New York Times, May 30, 2013)
Summary
Iraq is part of an ancient land that spans the area known historically as Mesopotamia. Over the last eleven years, Iraq has been through a massive military conflict that started in 2003 with the United States invading Iraq and toppling the dictator, Saddam Hussein. To meet the increasing consumer demand for red meat in Iraq, the USAID-Inma program entered into a partnership with the Iraqi 4-H organization to create opportunities for youth and widows through the development of the 4-H sheep production program.
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