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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Historic drought, wheat shortage to test Syria's new leadership
By Sarah El Safty and Maha El Dahan DUBAI (Reuters) -Syria faces a potential food crisis after the worst drought in 36 years slashed wheat production by around 40%, squeezing the country's cash-strapped government, which has been unable to secure large-scale purchases. Around three million Syrians could face severe hunger, the United Nations' World Food Programme told Reuters in written answers to questions, without giving a timeframe. Over half of the population of about 25.6 million is currently food insecure, it added. In a June report, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that Syria faced a wheat shortfall of 2.73 million metric tons this year, or enough to feed around 16 million people for a year. The situation poses a challenge to President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose government is seeking to rebuild Syria after a 14-year civil war that saw the toppling of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. Wheat is Syria's most important crop and supports a state-subsidised bread programme - a vital part of everyday life. Yet Sharaa's government has been slow to mobilise international support for big grain purchases. Reuters spoke to a Syrian official, three traders, three aid workers and two industry sources with direct knowledge of wheat procurement efforts, who said more imports and financing were needed to alleviate the impending shortage. The new government has only purchased 373,500 tons of wheat from local farmers this season, the Syrian government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. That is around half of last year's volume. The government needs to import around 2.55 million tons this year, the source added. So far, however, Damascus has not announced any major wheat import deals and is relying on small private shipments amounting to around 200,000 tons in total through direct contracts with local importers, the two industry sources said, also declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. The ministry of information did not respond to a request for comment. "Half of the population is threatened to suffer from the drought, especially when it comes to the availability of bread, which is the most important food during the crisis," Toni Ettel, FAO's representative in Syria, told Reuters. So far, Syria has received only limited emergency aid, including 220,000 tons of wheat from Iraq and 500 tons of flour from Ukraine. 'THE WORST YEAR' While Syria consumes around four million tons of wheat annually, domestic production is expected to fall to around 1.2 million tons this year, down 40% from last year, according to FAO figures. "This has been the worst year ever since I started farming," said Nazih Altarsha, whose family has owned six hectares of land in Homs governorate since 1960. Abbas Othman, a wheat farmer from Qamishli, part of Syria's breadbasket region in northeast Hasaka province, didn't harvest a single grain. "We planted 100 donums (six hectares) and we harvested nothing," he told Reuters. Only 40% of farmland was cultivated this season, much of which has now been ruined, particularly in key food-producing areas like Hassakeh, Aleppo, and Homs, the FAO said. Local farmers were encouraged to sell what they salvaged from their crop to the government at $450 a ton, around $200 per ton above the market price as an incentive, the official source said. "In a good year I can sell the government around 25 tons from my six hectares but this year I only managed to sell eight tons," said Altarsha, the Homs farmer. "The rest I had to just feed to my livestock as it wasn't suitable for human consumption," he said, hoping for better rains in December when the new planting season begins. Before the civil war, Syria produced up to four million tons of wheat in good years and exported around one million of that. U.S. POLICY SHIFTIn a major U.S. policy shift in May, President Donald Trump said he would lift sanctions on Syria that risked holding back its economic recovery. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates Syria will need to import a record 2.15 million tons of wheat in 2025/26, up 53% from last year, according to the department's database. Still, Syria's main grain buying agency is yet to announce a new purchasing strategy. The agency did not respond to Reuters questions over the issue. Wheat imports also face payment delays due to financial difficulties despite the lifting of sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Food was not restricted by Western sanctions on Assad's Syria, but banking restrictions and asset freezes made it difficult for most trading houses to do business with Damascus. Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter and a staunch supporter of Assad, had been a steady supplier but to a large extent has suspended supplies since December over payment delays and uncertainty about the new government, sources told Reuters following Assad's ouster.
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Historic drought, wheat shortage to test Syria's new leadership
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox DUBAI - Syria faces a potential food crisis after the worst drought in 36 years slashed wheat production by around 40%, squeezing the country's cash-strapped government, which has been unable to secure large-scale purchases. Around three million Syrians could face severe hunger, the United Nations' World Food Programme told Reuters in written answers to questions, without giving a timeframe. Over half of the population of about 25.6 million is currently food insecure, it added. In a June report, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that Syria faced a wheat shortfall of 2.73 million metric tons this year, or enough to feed around 16 million people for a year. The situation poses a challenge to President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose government is seeking to rebuild Syria after a 14-year civil war that saw the toppling of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. Wheat is Syria's most important crop and supports a state-subsidised bread programme - a vital part of everyday life. Yet Sharaa's government has been slow to mobilise international support for big grain purchases. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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The new government has only purchased 373,500 tons of wheat from local farmers this season, the Syrian government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. That is around half of last year's volume. The government needs to import around 2.55 million tons this year, the source added. So far, however, Damascus has not announced any major wheat import deals and is relying on small private shipments amounting to around 200,000 tons in total through direct contracts with local importers, the two industry sources said, also declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. The ministry of information did not respond to a request for comment. "Half of the population is threatened to suffer from the drought, especially when it comes to the availability of bread, which is the most important food during the crisis," Toni Ettel, FAO's representative in Syria, told Reuters. So far, Syria has received only limited emergency aid, including 220,000 tons of wheat from Iraq and 500 tons of flour from Ukraine. 'THE WORST YEAR' While Syria consumes around four million tons of wheat annually, domestic production is expected to fall to around 1.2 million tons this year, down 40% from last year, according to FAO figures. "This has been the worst year ever since I started farming," said Nazih Altarsha, whose family has owned six hectares of land in Homs governorate since 1960. Abbas Othman, a wheat farmer from Qamishli, part of Syria's breadbasket region in northeast Hasaka province, didn't harvest a single grain. "We planted 100 donums (six hectares) and we harvested nothing," he told Reuters. Only 40% of farmland was cultivated this season, much of which has now been ruined, particularly in key food-producing areas like Hassakeh, Aleppo, and Homs, the FAO said. Local farmers were encouraged to sell what they salvaged from their crop to the government at $450 a ton, around $200 per ton above the market price as an incentive, the official source said. "In a good year I can sell the government around 25 tons from my six hectares but this year I only managed to sell eight tons," said Altarsha, the Homs farmer. "The rest I had to just feed to my livestock as it wasn't suitable for human consumption," he said, hoping for better rains in December when the new planting season begins. Before the civil war, Syria produced up to four million tons of wheat in good years and exported around one million of that. U.S. POLICY SHIFTIn a major U.S. policy shift in May, President Donald Trump said he would lift sanctions on Syria that risked holding back its economic recovery. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates Syria will need to import a record 2.15 million tons of wheat in 2025/26, up 53% from last year, according to the department's database. Still, Syria's main grain buying agency is yet to announce a new purchasing strategy. The agency did not respond to Reuters questions over the issue. Wheat imports also face payment delays due to financial difficulties despite the lifting of sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Food was not restricted by Western sanctions on Assad's Syria, but banking restrictions and asset freezes made it difficult for most trading houses to do business with Damascus. Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter and a staunch supporter of Assad, had been a steady supplier but to a large extent has suspended supplies since December over payment delays and uncertainty about the new government, sources told Reuters following Assad's ouster. REUTERS
12-05-2025
- Health
Gaza's entire population faces 'critical' levels of hunger: Report
Gaza's entire population is experiencing critical levels of hunger amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the third month of Israel cutting off aid to the strip, according to a report published Monday. Gaza's 2.1 million residents will face a "crisis" level of food insecurity -- or worse -- from now through the end of September, according to a new report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification partnership, whose members include the World Health Organization. "Crisis" is the third-highest level of food insecurity, out of five, according to the IPC classification system. This is when households are either struggling to access food and are seeing cases of malnutrition or "are marginally able to meet minimum food needs but only by depleting essential livelihood assets," according to the IPC. Of the entire population, three-quarters of Gaza's population are already classified at the "emergency" or "catastrophe" levels, which are the two worst stages of food insecurity, per the IPC. The report projected that by the end of September, about 470,000 people Gaza, equivalent to about 22% of the population, will be classified as living under "catastrophe," which is equivalent to famine levels of starvation. In the previous IPC report, released in October 2024, 12% of the population was projected to be under classified as living under "catastrophe." The IPC said famine is classified when an area has 20% of households facing an extreme lack of food, 30% of children suffering from acute malnutrition, and two of every 10,000 people dying each day due to starvation or a combination of malnutrition and disease. In a press release, the WHO said the situation in Gaza is "one of the world's worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time." "We do not need to wait for a declaration of famine in Gaza to know that people are already starving, sick and dying, while food and medicines are minutes away across the border," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Monday. "Today's report shows that without immediate access to food and essential supplies, the situation will continue to deteriorate, causing more deaths and descent into famine." Ingredients have started running out in Gaza, and some food relief organizations have already closed. In late April, the United Nations' World Food Programme said it had delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meal kitchens in Gaza, and it expected to fully run out of food in the coming days. Additionally, the nonprofit group World Central Kitchen announced on Wednesday that it had run out of supplies and ingredients needed to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza. "Families in Gaza are starving while the food they need is sitting at the border. We can't get it to them because of the renewed conflict and the total ban on humanitarian aid imposed in early March," Cindy McCain, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, said in a statement. "It's imperative that the international community acts urgently to get aid flowing into Gaza again. If we wait until after a famine is confirmed, it will already be too late for many people." The Israeli government said the blockade is meant to pressure Hamas to release its hostages, as well as the remains of those who have died, and to accept a new proposal to extend phase one of the ceasefire deal, which ended March 18. The WHO said that since the blockade began, 57 children have died from malnutrition, citing figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. If the current situation persists, an estimated 70,500 children between ages 6 months and just under 5 years old will experiencing acute malnutrition by March 2026, according to the IPC report. Pregnant and breastfeeding women are also at risk with nearly 17,000 expected to need treatment for acute malnutrition by March 2026. Aid workers told ABC News that malnutrition makes it harder for Gazans to heal from injuries suffered during the war, and they can also be at risk of infections or skin graft failure. An official from President Donald Trump's administration told ABC News there is a not-yet-finalized plan to administer the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza, starting with fewer than half a dozen distribution sites set up throughout the enclave. "Our team members inside Gaza are surviving on the cheapest staples they can find -- lentils, fava beans, dry chickpeas -- if anything is available at all," Kate Phillips-Barrasso, vice president of global policy and advocacy for the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps, said in a statement. "The people of Gaza are enduring one of the most harrowing humanitarian crises in recent history."
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UN Food Agency Shuts Southern Africa Office Amid Trump Aid Cuts
(Bloomberg) -- The United Nations' World Food Programme, which gets much of its funding from the US, is closing its Southern African bureau at a time when the agency is leading a response to the worst drought in the region in four decades. Cuts to Section 8 Housing Assistance Loom Amid HUD Uncertainty Remembering the Landscape Architect Who Embraced the City NYC Office Buildings See Resurgence as Investors Pile Into Bonds Hong Kong Joins Global Stadium Race With New $4 Billion Sports Park NJ Transit to Deploy Customer-Service Teams After Record Delays The decision, which was communicated to staff around the world in an email on Friday from Global Executive Director Cindy McCain, comes as 26 million people across seven countries in the region run short of food ahead of this year's harvest in May. President Donald Trump has been dismantling US foreign aid affecting everything from health care to food supplies — Washington provides nearly half of WFP's $9.7 billion budget. 'We have reached the difficult decision to close WFP's regional bureau for southern Africa in Johannesburg,' McCain said in the email seen by Bloomberg. 'Challenging times demand some difficult choices.' The southern Africa bureau buys and transports hundreds of thousands of tons from South Africa and other countries. It procures more than 60% of its food, goods and services locally, WFP said on its website. The region is regularly hit by droughts because it's periodically affected by the El Nino weather phenomenon, as it was last year. The WFP's regional director and media team didn't respond to an emailed request for comment. The WFP has been instrumental in raising funds for countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique as they contend with the impact of the worst drought in at least four decades, which slashed corn harvests by as much as 70%. Some of the responsibilities of the bureau, which manages the response and deals with WFP country offices in a region spanning from South Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo, will be taken over by the East African bureau in Nairobi, McCain said in the email. McCain said the agency remains committed to southern Africa, adding that 'a transition and integration team' will be established to implement the changes over the course of the year. The 160 employees in the Johannesburg office were initially told their bureau might be combined with the one in Nairobi, a person familiar with the situation said. On Feb. 27, Carl Skau, McCain's deputy, was in Johannesburg and told staff that a decision had been taken to close the office, surprising everyone including senior management, the person said. McCain's email arrived a day later. South Africa's Department of International Relations & Cooperation has been informed, the person said. The department said it will respond to Bloomberg's query later. Sign up here for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter Rich People Are Firing a Cash Cannon at the US Economy—But at What Cost? Trump's SALT Tax Promise Hinges on an Obscure Loophole Walmart Wants to Be Something for Everyone in a Divided America The US Is Withdrawing From Global Health at a Dangerous Time Warner Bros. Movie Heads Are Burning Cash, and Their Boss Is Losing Patience ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UN's food agency WFP closes southern African bureau, Bloomberg News reports
(Reuters) - The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP), which gets much of its funding from the United States, is closing its southern African bureau, Bloomberg News said on Monday. The decision was communicated to staff around the world in an email on Friday from Global Executive Director Cindy McCain, Bloomberg reported. "We have reached the difficult decision to close WFP's regional bureau for southern Africa in Johannesburg," McCain reportedly said in the email.
