The most severe water shortage in Syria in recent memory leaves millions on the verge of disaster.

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EPA

    The wheat fields outside Seqalbia, near the Syrian city of Hama, should be golden and heavy with grain. Instead, Maher Haddad's 40 dunums (10 acres) are dry and empty, barely yielding a third of their usual harvest. This year was disastrous due to drought, said the 46-year-old farmer, reflecting on the land that cost him more to sow than it gave back.


    His fields delivered only 190kg (418 lbs) of wheat per dunum - far below the 400-500kg he relies on in a normal year. We haven't recovered what we spent on agriculture; we've lost money. I can't finance next year and I can't cover the cost of food and drink, Mr Haddad told the BBC. With two teenage daughters to feed, he is now borrowing money from relatives to survive.


    Mr Haddad's struggle is echoed across Syria, where the worst drought in 36 years has slashed wheat harvests by 40% and is pushing a country - where nearly 90% of the population already lives in poverty - to the brink of a wider food crisis.


    A report from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates Syria will face a wheat shortfall of 2.73m tonnes this year, the equivalent of annual dietary needs for 16.25 million people.

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            <span class="sc-86c96223-2 hqrvRC">Maher Haddad</span>
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    <figcaption class="sc-536eff7b-0 jFVvLh">Farmer Maher Haddad said the drought had been disastrous for his crops</figcaption>
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    Without more food aid or the ability to import wheat, Syria's hunger crisis is set to worsen dramatically, warned Piro Tomaso Perri, FAO's senior programme officer for Syria.


    Food insecurity could reach unprecedented levels by late 2025 into mid-2026, he said, noting that more than 14 million Syrians - six in 10 people - are already struggling to eat enough. Of those, 9.1 million face acute hunger, including 1.3 million in severe conditions, while 5.5 million risk sliding into crisis without urgent intervention.


    The same report showed rainfall has dropped by nearly 70%, crippling 75% of Syria's rain-fed farmland.


    This is the difference between families being able to stay in their communities or being forced to migrate, Mr Perri said. For urban households, it means rising bread prices. For rural families, it means the collapse of their livelihoods.


    Farming families are already selling livestock to supplement lost incomes from wheat, reducing their number of daily meals, and there has been a rise in malnutrition rates among children and pregnant women.


    Yet, the implications of the drought stretch far beyond the thousands of kilometres of barren farmlands.


    Wheat is a staple crop in Syria. It is the main ingredient for bread and pasta - two food staples that should be low-cost foods to families. So with the lack of wheat supply, the cost goes up.


    For 39-year-old widow Sanaa Mahamid, affording bread has become a massive struggle.


    With six children between the ages of nine and 20, she relies on the wages of two sons, but their salaries are not enough to cover the family's basic expenses.


    Sometimes we borrow money just to buy bread, she said.

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            <span class="sc-86c96223-2 hqrvRC">EPA</span>
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    <figcaption class="sc-536eff7b-0 jFVvLh">Syria is relying more heavily on wheat imports, including shipments from Russia</figcaption>
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    Last year, a bag of bread cost Sanna 500 Syrian pounds ($4.1; £3; €3.5), but now it is 4,500 Syrian pounds. To feed her family, Sanaa needs two bags a day - an expense of 9,000 pounds, before accounting for any other food.


    This is too much. This is just bread, and we still need other things, she said. If the price of bread rises again, this will be a big problem. The most important thing is bread.


    The crisis is a challenge for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, as his administration works to rebuild Syria in the aftermath of the 14-year conflict and the removal of former leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.


    International agencies, like the UN World Food Programme (WFP), are rushing to step in alongside the government to provide bread subsidies for those at risk of facing severe food insecurity.


    But aid officials warn that subsidies are only a temporary fix, and that the long-term stability of Syria depends on whether farmers can stay on their land and sustain production.

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    We're trying to keep people in the farming game, Marianne Ward, the WFP's country director for Syria, said. She has worked to give $8m (£6m; €6.9m) in direct payments to small farmers - about 150,000 people -

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70x500lkdno?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss