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Kurdish Iraqi farmer sprouts online advice, green awareness
Kurdish Iraqi farmer Azad Muhamad has become a social media star by sharing tips on growing fresh fruit and vegetables in the sun-parched country that is highly vulnerable to climate change.
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Iraqi Kurdish farmer Azad Muhamad, known as the Halabja model farmer, displays organic fresh produce at his farm near the Kurdish Iraqi town of Halabja, 300Km (190 miles) northeast of Iraq's capital, on July 6, 2022. (AFP/Safin Hamed)
K
urdish Iraqi farmer Azad Muhamad has become a social media star by sharing tips on growing fresh fruit and vegetables in the sun-parched country that is highly vulnerable to climate change.
The moustachioed 50-year-old with almost half a million Facebook followers posts weekly videos on topics such as protecting fruit trees, dealing with insects and helping people get more from their farms and gardens.
"They should make you agriculture minister," one of his fans, Ahmed Hassan, commented on a recent video.
Muhamad also uses his popular online platform to raise awareness about protecting the environment and the need to support local farmers, in his native Kurdistan region and beyond.
"Developed-country farmers have government support and harvesting machines," said Muhamad.
"Our farmers do everything themselves with their own sweat -- and when they lose money at the end of the year, they start over with the same passion and energy."
He also has a message for authorities in Iraq, which the UN classifies as the world's fifth most vulnerable country to climate change and where many are mired in poverty despite Iraq's oil wealth.
