Delayed wheat payments increase farmers’ burdens amid transitional government policies

Last year's wheat season offered farmers in the Jazira an opportunity to recover some of their losses after years of drought that had directly affected agricultural production and placed a heavy burden on families dependent on farming as their main source of income. However, improved yields and rainfall that restored farmers' hopes have not translated into economic stability, as they have instead faced a new problem: delays in receiving their payments and their distribution in instalments.

Farmers hold the Syrian transitional government partly responsible for these hardships as a result of new economic and customs decisions, rising production costs and reduced agricultural support, alongside the adoption of a fragmented payment mechanism for wheat dues instead of paying them in full after the end of the season.

According to farmers, the government is treating their payments as funds that can be postponed until liquidity becomes available, while for them the money represents essential capital needed to repay debts from the previous season and begin preparations for the new one.

In this context, a number of farmers from the city of Çil Axa went to the Agricultural Cooperative Bank when the first payment was issued. The payment amounted to one million new Syrian pounds, but the amount was insufficient to cover their accumulated obligations amid rising prices for seeds, fertilisers and fuel, as well as machinery and transportation costs.

Farmer Khalil Majid from the Alyan area said farmers were forced during the previous season to obtain agricultural and harvesting supplies on credit, relying on an implicit promise that proceeds from their wheat harvest would allow them to repay these obligations after the crop was sold.

He added that delays in payments and their division into instalments without a clear timetable had placed farmers in a financial predicament, noting that the payment he received covered only a small portion of his debts.

Khalil criticised the Syrian transitional government's approach to farmers' payments, stressing that farmers cannot wait for months to receive their money while preparations for the new agricultural season are already under way and debts to traders, agricultural machinery owners and suppliers of production inputs continue to accumulate.

He warned that the continuation of this policy could push farmers to reduce cultivated areas or abandon farming altogether, as production costs have become too high for many farming families to bear.

Farmer Jamil Haj Suleiman, for his part, criticised linking wheat payments to the availability of liquidity, saying that such a justification fails to take into account the nature of the agricultural sector, which operates on a seasonal financial cycle. Farmers need their money immediately after marketing their crops in order to repay debts and reinvest in the following season.

He explained that delayed payments are hindering farmers' ability to pay traders and machinery owners and purchase seeds and fertilisers, noting that farmers have no alternative sources of funding with which to finance a new season amid the suspension of support and rising prices.

Jamil said the continued delay in farmers' payments by the Syrian transitional government contradicts the importance of agriculture to the country's economy. He called on the relevant authorities to secure liquidity and pay all outstanding dues instead of making farmers bear the consequences of financial and administrative crises and what he described as the government's misguided policies.

Mahmoud Ahmed, from the village of Jalka, said wheat payments represent the main source farmers rely on to repay debts and prepare for the new agricultural season. He noted that the absence of a clear timetable for the payment of the remaining amounts is increasing uncertainty among farmers.

He said paying only a limited portion of the dues does not solve the problem but merely postpones it, as farmers remain required to repay their debts and secure the needs of their land at the same time, while their money remains with the authorities responsible for paying for their crops.

Mahmoud described the decision as unfair to farmers, warning that continued delays could directly affect the next agricultural season because farmers will be unable to purchase production supplies or prepare their land in time.

The situation facing farmers in the region reveals a clear gap between the Syrian transitional government's claims of supporting agriculture and the reality experienced by farmers. Rather than turning the proceeds of a good season into an opportunity to recover losses from years of drought, farmers are being forced to wait for payment for their crops at a time when the costs of the new season are rising.

Farmers are calling for their full share of the proceeds from their crops, urging the Syrian transitional government to assume its responsibilities towards the agricultural sector, accelerate the payment of all outstanding wheat dues, establish a clear and publicly announced payment schedule, and reconsider what they describe as misguided policies.

ANHA