Such a three million Syrians, according to the World Food Program of the United Nations (WFP), may be confronted with extreme hunger. The UN organization warns this in a response to questions from the Reuters news agency.
With the worst drought, Syria is struggling in 36 years and this year has produced 40 percent less wheat than normal. The new government manages to buy wheat.
According to an estimate of The Food and Agriculture Organization From the UN (FAO) from June, Syria is expected to be 2.73 million tonnes of wheat. That is equivalent to the amount that 16 million people would consume in a year.
Wheat is the most important crop in Syria, where bread is subsidized by the state. More than half of the population currently lives in food insecurity. Before the civil war started, Syria produced enough for its own population, about four million tonnes of wheat a year.
‘Need more imports’
The enormous Tarwet shortage president Ahmed al-Sharaa is a new challenge. His government, which took power after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, tries to rebuild Syria after the years of civil war. After Assad’s Val, armed militias are still active in the fragmented country, which distrust the new government. The new government is also struggling with financing shortages.
More imports are needed to prevent the deficit, say the nine experts who spoke Reuters. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the Syrian government must import more wheat more wheat in 2025/26 than last year, around 2.15 million tons more.
Nevertheless, the Syrian regime has not yet announced large international grain deals, Reuters reports, and instead does business with local importers who deliver small quantities. The country has also only received food aid to a small degree, for example from Iraq and Ukraine.
For years, Syria imported wheat from Russia, a loyal ally of the deposed Assad. Since Assad’s Val, Russia has largely shut down that trade relationship.
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