Despite six years of crisis in Syria, agriculture remains a key part of the economy. The sector still accounts for an estimated 26 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and represents a critical safety net for the 6.7 million Syrians – including those internally displaced - who still remain in rural...

Between November 22 - 25, 2017 Lebanon hosted the 2nd Learning Journey on LSPA: Local Solidarity Partnerships for Agro-ecology between producers and consumers. Around 20 facilitators from 11 Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey, Syria) participated and shared their experiences through meetings and site...

Damascus- 22 June 2017: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in the framework of its on-going EU funded project, has organized a one-day workshop to establish the resilience programming network for agriculture sector in Syria.  The workshop took place in Damascus on June 12th 2017 and...

With the war in Syria now approaching its sixth year, agricultural production has plummeted and food supplies are at an all-time low, pushing millions of people into hunger. FAO today called on governments to provide a boost in funding targeted at helping farmers keep their lands in production to prevent...

Syrian farmers in the country’s western coastal governorate of Tartous, formerly among the world’s top producers of tomatoes, have started their first tomato harvest of the year with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).Before the conflict in...

The Euphrates and Tigris river basin shared between four countries (Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq) is one that is highly vulnerable to climate change. These countries are interdependent on the water from the system to sustain ecosystem goods and services, agriculture and energy production, municipal and industrial water supply, livelihoods...

With the intensification of the crisis, food insecurity and poverty have drastically increased across all of Syria. At the same time, the crisis continues to affect the national economic and social balance in countries neighbouring Syria. The massive influx of refugees is exerting unprecedented pressure on host countries and communities, which...

"Failing to support Syria’s farmers now will give them no choice but to abandon their land, move to the cities and ultimately migrate to other countries.There is no peace without food security and there is no food security without peace.  No peace is sustainable without food security, which in turn...

According to the FAO, farming infrastructure, together with irrigation canals and grain depots, has been destroyed. It said the storage facilities of the state seeds body across the country had also been damaged, so it had distributed just a tenth of the 450,000 tons of seeds that farmers needed to...

Food production in Syria has hit a record low as widespread insecurity and unfavourable weather conditions in parts of the country continued to hamper access to land, farming supplies and markets, making it ever more difficult for farmers to maintain their livelihoods and feed the war-torn country. The latest Crop and...

The report analyses the determinants of demand on energy, water, and food in the Arab region, thgat  include socio-economic contexts, level of development, population growth, rate of urbanization, scarcity of water resources, the harsh climate conditions, and pricing policies. However, the region is truly heterogeneous in terms of socioeconomic contexts,...

The need for sustainable food consumption in Arab countries has emerged from the regional concern for food and nutrition security that requires special consideration on multiple levels and disciplines. In response to population growth and demand, the current Arab food system – characterized by intensive agricultural production as well as...

This working paper presents an overview of the results of an ICARDA project to provide Awassi sheep farmers in Syria and Lebanon with the latest knowledge on best practices for managing sheep to improve their income. The project provided ICARDA the opportunity to actively convert scientific knowledge generated over many...

The aim of the guidelines is to enhance restoration efforts in the world’s drylands. They provide specific guidance for policymakers and other decision-makers, and for practitioners. Well-informed policymakers and other higher-order decision-makers can be enablers in the design and implementation of effective restoration efforts by providing appropriate policies, governance mechanisms...

Before the Syrian uprising that began in 2011, the greater Fertile Crescent experienced the most severe drought in the instrumental record. For Syria, a country marked by poor governance and unsustainable agricultural and environmental policies, the drought had a catalytic effect, contributing to political unrest. We show that the recent...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is closely monitoring the impact of the Syria crisis on food security, nutrition, agriculture and livelihoods in Syria and neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Assessments carried out across the affected subregion indicate that threats to food security and...

Hosted on CIHEAM’s website (ciheam.org), the Mediterranean Observatory aims at contributing to the exchange of ideas by providing information and analyses on agriculture, food and development within the Euro-Mediterranean area. In this regard, various statistical indicators were collected and processed in order to offer essential information for all those who,...

Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Eng. Ahmad al-Qadri said work with FAO will focus on promoting future cooperation between both sides through setting joint programs targeting agricultural sector in Syria to achieve positive outcomes. During a meeting with UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Assistant Director-General for North Africa and...

The humanitarian situation in Syria is of grave concern, with domestic, regional and growing international consequences. As the conflict enters its fourth year, insecurity, generalized violence and specific persecution continue to force the people of Syria to seek safety and protection elsewhere, both inside the country and in the neighbouring...

Most of Near east and North Africa societies have been in the midst of social and political transition in recent years. Three of them changed governments following the events of 2011, and some have endured armed conflict. Moreover, most of them face the challenge of food security in a drylands...