FAO

Syria’s wheat and barley crops are likely to decline this year for the third successive year due to small planted areas, climatic factors, and shortages in oil products and fertilisers, which have become chronic issues for Syria’s agriculture sector.

A Food and Agriculture Organisation project, which represents the first Russia-funded FAO project in Syria, has recently launched operations in Aleppo.

Syria’s cotton and olive harvests are forecast to be slightly higher this year, helping the government generate much-needed foreign currency. Meanwhile, olive and olive oil production has remained stable throughout the conflict.

The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Protection agreed to import one million tonnes of wheat, mainly from Russia, highlighting Syria’s continuing dependency on its ally.

Wheat and barley production has declined significantly across all of Syria for the second year in a row due to climate change, low water levels in the Euphrates River, and production input shortages, according to official data. This season's wheat production is 75 percent lower than pre-crisis volumes.

The WFP has indicated that the prices of food and non-food items in Syria increased significantly in March as a result of Ukraine’s unfolding crisis and the conflict’s repercussions on global food and energy markets.