DIYALA, Iraq - An estimated 1.21 million Iraqis were displaced before 2003 under the Ba'ath government, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Since then that number has more than doubled primarily as the result of a rash of sectarian violence that gripped the country, according to the center. The total number of internally displaced Iraqis who have yet to return home is estimated at 2.8 million. Since the improvement of their national security, the government of Iraq and other organizations, like the United States Department of Agriculture, are working to resettle internally displaced persons in Iraq. To facilitate this, agricultural advisors assigned by the USDA to the Department of State's Diyala Provincial Reconstruction Team created the Hayat Jadida IDP Villages Agricultural Livelihoods. Hayat jadida means to give new life in Arabic. "The program is intended to assist in the process of restoring the villages' destroyed orchards, vineyards and vegetable fields," said Russell Williams, a senior agricultural adviser with the Diyala PRT. In order to help displaced persons who have returned to the area, members of the United States Department of Agriculture, like Williams, have worked diligently with the Iraqi government and local sheiks in the villages of al Bey'a, Qaryat ar Naqib and Ibrahim al Madhkur for the past year. Escorted by 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Mr. Williams meets regularly with the sheiks of these villages to discuss the status of the program. Smaller villages in Diyala province, like al Bey'a, have been deeply affected by sectarian conflict for the past seven years. During a period of political unrest, Al Qaeda in Iraq used violence and intimidation to turn Islamic Sunnis and Islamic Shiites against each other. The resulting violence drove families to seek shelter elsewhere, leaving virtual ghost towns behind. That was over a year ago, before security returned to the region and the villagers started making their way back home. Now towns like al Beya have set to the task of reviving their economic and agricultural way of life. While some of the villages' basic infrastructure, e.g. water pumps, have been repaired and or replaced, each village still lacks many of the tools necessary to rebuild livelihoods, said Williams, a Visalia, Calif., native. One of the first tasks the USDA set out to do was order new farm equipment to replace the outdated equipment. This equipment includes a 90 horsepower, four-wheel drive tractor to assist with plowing the fields and a plastic covered greenhouse, called a hoop-house, that will allow farmers to grow crops the region normally couldn't support. An assortment of smaller implements and supplies has also been ordered to assist the villagers. Farmers mainly rely on heavy rains in the winter and melting snow from the mountains of Turkey into the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to increase their agricultural production. Water is distributed to the crops from the rivers with the use of an irrigation system that helps flood the fields during planting time. Unfortunately rainfall has been scarce over the last two years. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service estimated only four inches of rainfall in September 2007 to April 2008 and four to eight inches in 2008-2009. The soil was so dry that the government of Iraq requested Turkey to release more water from the hydroelectric dams in the north to feed the rivers and spread water to the farmer's fields. In 2009, Iraq received an abundance of rainfall and unusually warmer winter months. The warm temperature combined with the rain has helped crops germinate at a faster rate. This year's harvest yielded over 300 percent more than the previous year, according to USDA, and enough grain was produced for the villagers to sell to the government. However new equipment and favorable weather can only help so much. Local leadership in Diyala complained that companies in neighboring countries are able to export produce into Iraq to sell in markets at a cheaper price than the farmers. As a result the farmers must find a more cost-effective way to grow crops. The USDA is trying to fix this problem by offering courses that teach techniques to maximize profit while cutting cost. One example of this is the drip irrigation system. This system uses at least 60 percent less water to develop crops. Drip irrigation uses a network of valves and pipes to deliver water slowly to the roots of the plants, thus enabling farmers to conserve water and fertilizer by delivering nutrients to the source of the plant, the root. Although Williams has only worked with al Bey'a village for a year, he has seen the village go from having nothing to one that is slowly starting to resemble its former self. More families are planning to return after the school year is over. With more families returning, new equipment coming in and modern techniques being taught, the village is well on its way to becoming a self sufficient community.