By Countercurrents.org
29 January, 2013
Countercurrents.org
External armed intervention and conflict is ruining agriculture sector in Syria.
A UN mission has found: cereal, fruit and vegetable production dropped by half and there is massive destruction of irrigation and other infrastructure*.
The mission, from January 18 to 22, has also found: Twenty-two months of conflict have left Syria’s agricultural sector in tatters
The mission has found:
1. Wheat and barley production dropped to less than 2 million tonnes last year from 4 to 4.5 million tonnes in normal years.
2. Vegetable, fruit and olive production declined significantly in both Homs and Dara’a Governorates, including a 60 percent drop in vegetable production in Homs and a 40 percent drop in olive oil production in Dara’a.
3. Only 45 percent of the farmers were able to fully harvest their cereal crops while 14 percent reported they could not harvest due to insecurity and lack of fuel.
4. There is a lack of access to agricultural inputs including quality seeds and fertilizers.
5. There is a lack of irrigation due to damage to main irrigation canals especially in Homs and lack of fuel for irrigation pumps.
6. Movement of livestock to grazing areas has not been possible and their survival is compromised by the lack of animal feed and veterinary drugs, the importation of which is hampered by sanctions.
7. The production of poultry, a traditional source of cheap animal protein has also been severely hit with major farms destroyed in Homs, Hama and Idleb.
The mission was coordinated with both the government and the opposition and visited several affected areas in Damascus as well as in the governorates of Homs and Dara’a. The mission team was composed of emergency directors from seven UN humanitarian agencies and led by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The mission was struck by the plight of the Syrian people whose capacity to cope is dramatically eroded by 22 months of crisis,” said Dominique Burgeon, Director of FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division, who participated in the mission.
“Destruction of infrastructure in all sectors is massive and it is clear that the longer the conflict will last, the longer it will take to rehabilitate it,” he said.
Of the 10 million Syrians who live in rural areas – about 46 percent of the population – 80 percent derive their livelihoods from agriculture.
Burgeon said: The people need urgent agricultural support in terms of seeds, fertilizers, animal feed, veterinary drugs, poultry and rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure.
* 23-01-2013, “Syrian agricultural production drops massively as conflict continues”, http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/168676/icode/