🔗 Share this article

Close to the countryside by the city of Hama, crop lands are expected to be golden and productive with crops.

However, Maher Haddad's fields remains unproductive, yielding only a third of its usual output.

"The current season proved catastrophic as a result of the lack of rain," remarked the experienced farmer.

His fields yielded merely 190kg per dunum—far below the 400-500kg seen in a normal season.

"{We haven't recovered what we put in; we've faced losses. It's impossible to fund next year's operations," he continued.

With two growing children to support, the farmer is seeking funds from kin to make ends meet.

Widespread Emergency

This struggle is echoed across Syria, where the gravest drought in over three decades has slashed agricultural output by nearly half.

A projected gap of 2.73 million tonnes is predicted this year—enough to feed the yearly dietary needs of more than 16.25 million Syrians.

Rising Need

Without more support or the ability to bring in grains, the crisis may worsen significantly.

More than 14,000,000 people—about six in ten the people—presently find it hard to meet their nutritional needs.

Of these, 9.1 million experience acute malnutrition, with 1.3 million in dire states.

Precipitation has fallen by nearly a large percentage, damaging 75% of non-irrigated farmland.

"This means the distinction between families remaining in their villages or needing to move," commented an representative.

Household Challenges

Farming communities are selling livestock to supplement reduced earnings, cutting back their daily diet.

Undernourishment levels among minors and women are growing.

Crops is a basic commodity in Syria, used for flatbread and pasta—low-cost items that are now rising in cost.

For a widow who is 39, affording food has become very hard.

Having several kids, she depends on her sons' wages, which are not essential costs.

"Sometimes we borrow cash only to purchase food," she said.

Previously, a portion of flatbread was priced at five hundred Syrian pounds, but now it is much more.

To feed her family, she requires two portions a day—a cost of 9,000 pounds, excluding other necessities.

Official and Foreign Actions

The emergency poses a serious challenge for the leadership, which is working to restore the country after years of unrest.

Aid organizations are providing bread subsidies for those at risk, but officials caution that these are temporary measures.

"We're trying to help farmers in the farming sector," commented a official.

Direct support have been given to small farmers who experienced their entire yield.

Yet, after a long time of conflict, Syria's farming system was already weakened by financial collapse, damaged irrigation systems, and contaminated land.

Resource Problem

Within key growing regions, crop land must have several irrigation rounds per season, but because of absence of precipitation, most farmers are unable to sustain.

"A grower's primary worry is securing irrigation," explained a area agriculture director.

Irrigation needs energy, and expenses have skyrocketed sharply, costing eleven thousand to twelve thousand currency per gallon.

Expensive fuel prices and frequent power cuts have made irrigation systems out of reach for numerous agriculturalists.

Future Measures

One focus for the government is developing water systems—like renewable energy drip systems—to ensure resources more available.

Yet those projects require time and money—options that agricultural workers lack right now.

So, for many people across the land, there is simply one thing to do in the next period: wait for rain.