- Title: Food production in Syria hits all-time low, U.N. says
- Date: 15th November 2016
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (NOVEMBER 15, 2016) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS BUILDING NEWS BRIEFING ONGOING JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) SPOKESWOMAN BETTINA LUESCHER SAYING: "Food production is at an all-time low in Syria. Five years of war have really devastated in many places the agriculture in the country. Farmers are desperate. Sometimes they cannot access their fields, sometimes they cannot buy the seeds they need, sometimes they cannot sell the harvests - the streets are destroyed, they cannot bring it to the markets. It really is at an all-time low. The wheat production is down, so many other things are down, livestock is much fewer than it was before this war started." U.N. STAFF (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) SPOKESWOMAN BETTINA LUESCHER SAYING: "Eighty percent of the households across Syria struggle with a lack of food, or money to buy food, and the situation is only going to become worse if we fail to support farmers so they can maintain their lands and livelihoods. And what we are saying as the World Food Programme is that more than 7 million people are classified as 'food insecure' across the country, meaning they are not always certain where the next meal is coming from. They've exhausted their life savings and they are no longer able to put food on the table." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) SPOKESWOMAN BETTINA LUESCHER SAYING: "We are extremely concerned about the situation in eastern Aleppo at the moment, with the last food rations that have been provided by the U.N. have been given out. It's very hard to say how people will be coping there. And of course, that is a very different situation than in the capital where of course food is readily available on the markets and people can buy things." UNITED NATIONS BUILDING
- Embargoed: 30th November 2016 11:45
- Keywords: food production Syria hunger war World Food Programme United Nations U.N.
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
- Reuters ID: LVA00158K2JPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Food production has dropped to an all-time low in Syria, where civilians are struggling through their sixth winter in a war zone, the United Nations warned on Tuesday (November 15).
"Food production is at an all-time low in Syria. Five years of war have really devastated in many places the agriculture and the country. Farmers are desperate. Sometimes they cannot access their fields, sometimes they cannot buy the seeds they need, sometimes they cannot sell the harvests," the World Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Bettina Luescher told reporters, following the release of a joint study made by WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the impact of the five-year-war on the country.
Many farmers have had to abandon their land, unable to afford the soaring cost of seeds, fertilisers and tractor fuel, the FAO and the WFP said.
Wheat output - vital for making flat loaves of bread, a staple of the Syrian diet - dropped from an average 3.4 million metric tonnes harvested before the war began in 2011 to 1.5 million this year, they said in a joint statement.
The area planted for cereals in 2015-2016 cropping season is the "smallest ever," the report said. In the last year, 900 000 hectares of wheat were planted, as opposed to 1.5 million hectares planted before the war started.
The number of farm animals has also declined dramatically, with 30% fewer cattle, 40% fewer sheep and goats and 60% less poultry. Before the war, Syria was an exporter of livestock.
"More than 7 million people are classified as 'food insecure' across the country, meaning they are not always certain where the next meal is coming from. They have exhausted their life savings and they are no longer able to put food on the table," Luescher said.
Reuters reported last month that Syria's state grain buying agency Hoboob struck a deal to purchase one million tonnes of wheat from political ally Russia, covering the needs of government-controlled areas for a year.
Food shortages are particularly worrying in east Aleppo, the rebel-held part of the city besieged by government forces where the U.N. says between 250,000 and 2750,000 people live.
"We are extremely concerned about the situation in eastern Aleppo at the moment, with the last food rations that have been provided by the U.N. have been given out. It is very hard to say how people will be coping there and of course, that is a very different situation than in the capital where of course food is readily available on the markets and people can buy things," Luescher said.
The World Food Programme is distributing rations to more than 4 million people in Syria each month. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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