The worst drought in Syria for decades is pushing millions to the border

Wheat fields outside of Sekalbia, near the Syrian city of Hama, should be golden and heavy with grain.

Instead, 40 Dunums Maher Haddad (10 hectares) are dry and empty, barely a third of their usual crop.

“This year was catastrophic because of the drought,” said the 46-year-old peasant, reflecting on the land that cost him more than he gave.

It was delivered only 190 kg (418 pounds) to Dunum – much lower than 400-500 kg, which it rests in the usual year.

“We did not restore what we spent on agriculture; we lost money. I cannot finance next year and I can’t cover the cost of food and beverages,” Mr. Haddad said in the BBC.

With two daughters -to feed teenagers, he now borrows money from relatives to survive.

Mr. Haddad’s struggle is repeated throughout Syria, where the worst drought in 36 years has reduced the wheat harvest by 40% and pushes the country – if almost 90% of the population already lives in poverty – to the border of a wider food crisis.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report will face a lack of wheat this year in 2.73 million tons of annual dietary needs for 16.25 million.

Without additional food assistance and ability to import wheat, the crisis in Syria is thinking sharply deteriorates, warned by Pira Thomas Perri, a senior FAO program employee in Syria.

“Food security can reach an unprecedented level by the end of 2025 in mid -2016,” he said, noting that more than 14 million Syrians – six out of 10 people – are already struggling. Of these, 9.1 million faces acute hunger, including 1.3 million in difficult conditions, while 5.5 million risks that go into crisis without urgent intervention.

The same report shows that rainfall decreased by almost 70%, and cripples 75% of farmland in Syria.

“This is the difference between the fact that families can remain in their communities or be forced to migrate,” Mr. Perri said. “For urban households, this means raising bread prices. For rural families, this means a collapse of their livelihood.”

Families of agriculture are already selling animals to supplement the lost wheat income, reducing the number of daily meals, and there is an increase in malnutrition levels among children and pregnant women.

However, the effects of the drought reach far than thousands of kilometers of infertile farmland.

Wheat is the main crop in Syria. This is the main ingredient for bread and pasta – two food staples that should be inexpensive families. Thus, in the absence of wheat supply, the cost increases.

For the 39-year-old widow, Sana Mahamid, giving bread, became a mass struggle.

With six children from the age of nine and 20, it rests on the salary of two sons, but their salaries are not enough to cover the main cost of the family.

“Sometimes we borrow money to buy bread,” she said.

Last year, a bread bag costs £ 500 ($ 4.1; £ 3; 3.5 euros), but now it’s 4,500 Syrian pounds. To feed her family, Sane need two bags a day – a cost of 9000 pounds before considering any other food.

“It’s too much. It’s just bread and we still need other things,” she said. “If the price of bread rises again, it will be a big problem. The most important thing is bread.”

The crisis is a problem for the temporary president Ahmed al-Sharaa because his administration works to restore Syria after a 14-year conflict and removal of former Bashar al-Assad leader in December 2024.

International Agency, such as the UN World Food Program (WFP), seek to enter with the government to provide bread subsidies for those who risk faced with serious food security.

But help officials warn that subsidies are only temporary correction, and that Syria’s long-term stability depends on whether farmers can stay on their land and maintain production.

“We are trying to keep people in agriculture,” said Mariana Ward, director of the country WFP on Syria. It worked to give 8 million dollars (6 million pounds; 6.9 million euros) direct payments to small farmers – about 150,000 people who lost all their yields.

“If you are not going to make money, you are going to leave the land. And then you are not going to have people who are going to work in agriculture, which is important for the economy,” she said

But after more than a decade of the war, the Syrian agricultural sector has already been shot down by economic collapse, destroyed by irrigation systems and field mining.

Dr. Ali Alush, director of the region’s agriculture Deire al-Zura, Syria’s bread venue, said the wheat fields should be irrigated four to six times a season, but due to the lack of rain, most farmers could not keep up.

“The main problem of the farmer is first to provide water and water that requires fuel. The cost of fuel has soared. It reached up to 11,000 to 12,000 Syrian pounds per liter,” said D -R -Alush.

The high fuel price and electricity reduction meant that water pumps were unavailable and many manufacturers have already been burdened with debt.

D -R Alush says that the priority for its department and the transition government in Damascus is investing in irrigation projects – for example, Drips with sunny food – which will make water more accessible to farmers.

But such projects require time and money – the luxury of wheat farmers now do not have.

So, for millions of Syrians across the country, there is only one in the coming months: pray for the rain.

Additional Lana Antaki report in Damascus