An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Mission (CFSAM) was conducted in May 2017. This was the fourth CFSAM since the beginning of the crisis in 2011 and, for the first time, it has been possible to visit 7 governorates, including Aleppo, Homs and Al-Hasakeh, the former bread-basket in the north-east. The Mission conducted visits to farms and markets, interviewed farmers, traders, displaced and resident households across the country to cross-check secondary information provided by the Government and International Organizations.

Wheat production in 2017 has been estimated at 1.8 million tonnes, 12 percent more than 2016 record low harvest, but still less than half of the pre-conflict average of 4.1 million tonnes. Main constraints continue to be high production costs and a lack of inputs as well as the impact of the crisis on infrastructure, including irrigation. The CFSAM estimates that 6.9 million people are currently food insecure. Some 5.6 million people would likely be worse off without food assistance and 3.1 million people are at high risk of food insecurity as they are using asset depletion strategies to meet their consumption needs. Only 3.5 million people are currently considered food secure.