Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | spring 2006

SPRING 2006
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An Iraqi hero

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AN IRAQI HERO
FOR ONE ISU ALUMNA, GIVING UP JUST ISN'T AN OPTION

Dr. Sawsan Al-Sharifi says she’s been called to serve.

While others flee her homeland, her faith abides. To her, there is no choice but to believe in the future for her beloved Iraq.

“Agriculture is my field,” she says, “and I’ll do anything where I’m needed to serve my country.”

As a government leader in the war-torn nation, Sawsan’s challenges are many. Agriculture in Iraq was greatly oppressed under the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein, and today 75 percent of the country’s food needs are met by other nations. Farmers strive to reclaim land that was taken from them. More than half of Iraq’s date palm crop has been destroyed through acts of war and terrorism. The country lacks proper irrigation and soil management systems. Because of poor border security, low-quality goods flow into Iraq. Import prices have dropped to devastating lows. Poverty is a major concern. Where so much has been broken in Iraq, the agricultural sector will play a daunting role in the mending process.

Sawsan, who received her master’s and doctoral degrees from Iowa State in 1981 and 1983, has responsibility for management of these issues, and many others, as chair of the agriculture committee for Iraq’s National Assembly. In 2003, the noted researcher was called to govern-ment service and became Deputy Minister of Agriculture before serving one year as Minister of Agriculture from 2004 to 2005.

“My country has been shut off from the world,” Sawsan says. “The amount of agriculture area is the same as it was in the 1970s, but the population has grown significantly. We need to adopt new technologies.”

But rebuilding isn’t easy. While Sawsan admits the amount of property being ruined in Iraq has slowed since last fall, destruction remains a concern. You rebuild something, she says, and it is immediately bombed again. While reconstruction has remained largely intact in the last year, the chilling flip side, she says, is that the focus of the insurgents is now on killing people.

Since the new year Sawsan has been supervising a livestock development project and working with humanitarian organizations to develop crop and seed technologies for her country. She says foreign investments are needed, but few seem willing or able to sacrifice at this time.

She points to Iraq’s open borders as the top problem preventing agricultural success.

“I would like for American leaders to think about the open borders of Iraq,” she says. “It’s very important to close up borders, to keep insurgents out. All kinds
of goods are coming through the border at a very low price. We can’t compete. And the health and disease implications are very dangerous.”

Sawsan’s educational and leadership credentials make her a trusted expert in her country. Upon receiving her bachelor’s degree from the University of Baghdad,
she came to Iowa State and earned a pair of advanced animal breeding degrees.

Sawsan says she cherishes the memories of her time at Iowa State with her husband, who earned his PhD at the University of Minnesota. Their daughter was born in Ames in 1983.

When she returned to Iraq from Iowa in the mid-80s, she immediately put her knowledge to work as an animal production researcher for Iraq’s prestigious Scientific Research Council, later becoming the senior scientific researcher for the state board of agricultural research in the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture and serving as national coordinator for the Buffalo Research Network for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. With the exception of the time she spent in Ames, Sawsan has spent her life as an eyewitness to Iraq’s political, social, and agricultural successes and strife.

In the past two years, Sawsan has seen the devastating impact of war and insurgent attacks, not only from an agricultural standpoint, but on a deeply personal level. Family members and colleagues have been killed, paralyzed, and kidnapped. Last April a truck exploded in the parking lot at the Ministry of Agriculture, just as Sawsan was grieving the murder of her brother. She has survived one horrific event after another, and the tales she has to tell paint a dark portrait of what it really means to live in Iraq today.

But Sawsan is a unique and inspiring individual.
“We wish that things would get better, but nothing will ever discourage me,” she says. “I’m always happy to serve my country. During the regime when the salary was low, I stayed there and worked. When the chance came I did my best, and I’ll always be ready. The [coalition forces] are here in Iraq working, but we should work even harder. It’s our country.”

About the Writer | Kate Bruns is assistant director for electronic communications at the ISU Alumni Association.