Wheat farmers in Daraa governorate have been busy harvesting their crops after a particularly hard season. For the second year running, they have been struggling with drought-like conditions and limited access to quality seed to plant their fields and produce food for their families and the local communities. They needed every possible assistance if 2022 was not to follow 2021 as another bad wheat season.

In some parts of Syria, over 70 000 farmers have lost most of their crop creating uncertainty and hardship for some years to come. In Dara'a governorate, one of Syria's long-established wheat producers, farmers have faced years of armed conflict that forced them to abandon their fields looking for safety.  Even as they returned to their lands, they found themselves lacking access to quality inputs, seed and fertilizer, due to shortages in the local markets.

As part of a joint intervention with WFP and UNDP, and with funding from the Syria Humanitarian Fund (SHF), FAO has provided 1 690 farmers in Daraa with quality wheat seed to cultivate their lands, beginning in December 2021. Despite the challenging climate and limited resources, the Organization’s provision of quality seed has provided a lifeline for many households as Fairuz Qanbar, a mother of three said: “My husband is a school janitor who works long hours, but we still need extra income because my daughter has palsy and she needs physiotherapy. I hold hope for this year’s harvest to use the crop sales to pay for her therapy.”

The inputs have alleviated production costs and enabling farmers to generate income by selling both grains and the resulting hay as animal fodder.  With the country’s growing economic difficulties, the grants and the income can make a significant difference, as in the case of Anwar Abu Naqta, a 60-year-old farmer from rural Dara’a.  He said: “I have been growing and selling wheat for ages. In recent years, however, we had to borrow money. Otherwise, we could not plant or harvest crops. FAO’s support has spared us the cost of seed for this season, and helped us to produce quality grain that we can sell to repay our debts.”

FAO has given comprehensive support by training a group of experts to provide technical support and early warning to the farmers regarding weather, diseases, and other adverse conditions. The Organization has also assisted the farmers with cash to help with the costs of land preparation and harvesting.

Apart from the provision of seed and harvest support, this joint intervention has also led to the rehabilitation of two bakeries in Nawa and Busra Al-Sham by WFP, while UNDP is providing solar-powered lighting to these bakeries, which will enhance the local population’s access to bread and will contribute to their food security.

Supporting wheat farmers with seed and technical support has helped people to harvest crucial food items for consumption in a difficult year, and contributed to the production of wheat in the country. For the upcoming season 2022/23, more efforts are needed to support more than 70 000 wheat farmers to prepare and plant their lands, and harvest and sell their produce – at a time where they are struggling with unpaid debts from the 2021/22 season, and have not managed to save much in terms of quality seed for planting.

“The agricultural season cannot wait! We are calling on all of our partners to take immediate action for funding wheat production projects in the 2022/23 season. People basically need immediate support of cash, inputs and training to overcome the continuing hard conditions they are going through,” states Mike Robson – FAO Representative in the Syrian Arab Republic.