FAO launches $5 million project to support food security in NE, Syria

The FAO announced on Monday that it is launching an emergency project valued at $5 million, funded by the Syria Humanitarian Fund, aimed at supporting thousands of farmers and livestock breeders in the northeast of the country as food insecurity continues to escalate.

The project targets approximately 17,300 households more than 103,000 people in Al-Hasakah, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor. It will provide agricultural inputs, livestock feed, seeds, and organic fertilizers, helping protect livelihoods and prevent the collapse of agricultural production in the most affected rural areas.

FAO stated through its official platforms that the intervention comes as an urgent response to deteriorating humanitarian conditions, particularly in light of severe drought considered one of the worst in four decades along with rising production costs and declining irrigation infrastructure. These factors have turned food security into a structural crisis threatening the stability of rural communities.

FAO Acting Representative in Syria, Piero Tommaso Berri, said the project aims to prevent families from being forced to sell their livestock, abandon their land, or rely entirely on food aid, by providing timely support to sustain local production.

The support will include 12,800 livestock-raising households, which will receive 6,400 tons of animal feed, in addition to 4,500 farming households that will be provided with seed and fertilizer packages to maintain food production.

The organization emphasized that this intervention will help strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable communities and reduce the risks of displacement and worsening food insecurity in Syria.

ANHA